Crimson Sword King
by ZuttoAragi
Summary: His Luck has always been bad, something he knows well. So when he went to Italy on a request, he knew something would happen. Just not him becoming a King.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter I**

 **I come to you with another new story! ... Sort of. This is Crimson Sword King, a soft remake of Devilish God Slayer. The basic premise and idea are the same, but some details are changed, such as the main character being Shirou Emiya rather than Issei Hyoudou. It is still a harem story, still features mainly High School DxD, Fate, and Campione, and Bakuto Masaki is still along for the ride, though. With that said, on to the main event!**

* * *

A teen with short, messy, orange-red hair laid asleep in bed, while standing next to his bed was a young girl with long, waist-length, silver-blonde hair, dark red eyes, and a plain brown and white school uniform. She stared at the sleeping teen in silence before smirking. "WAKE UP BIG BROTHER SHIROU!"

"Gah!" he grunted before sitting up suddenly. Groaning, he looked up at the smiling girl. "I – Illya…?"

"Good morning!" she cheered.

Shirou frowned in confusion at her. "… What are you doing here?"

"Mommy told me to come wake you."

He tilted his head in confusion. "Eh? Why would she… ah crap!" he cursed before trying to spring out of bed, catching on the blanket and falling to the floor.

A girl with long, similarly colored hair and matching eyes, a petite figure dressed in a plain blouse and jeans walked into the room, irritated. "Illya? Have woken Shiro – KYA!" she screamed as she saw Shirou on top of Illya.

Shirou's face went flat. ' _Why is my luck so bad…?_ '

"Wh – What are you doing to Illya?!" she stammered, pointing a long kitchen knife at him.

Shirou stood up, fearfully. "N – Nothing, Sella! I just fell!"

Sella narrowed her eyes and then turned to Illya as she sat up, blushing. "H – He did!"

Sella narrowed her eyes further before sighing, lowering the knife. "Right… well get dressed. Your plane leaves in two hours."

"Right!"

* * *

Shortly later, Shirou rushed into the home's kitchen where two others sat at the table.

The first was a slightly younger girl than Sella, her expression fully placid and her hair short and messy, her physique more voluptuous.

The second was a mature woman with the same, silky, silver hair, ruby red eyes, and white skin along with a curvy figure wearing a simple white dress, sitting at the table.

"Good morning, Shirou," the woman greeted with a smile.

Shirou nodded in return, hurriedly. "Mornin', Mom!"

"Morning," greeted the almost sleepy looking girl.

Shirou smiled and patted the girl's head, eliciting a small smile from her. "Good morning, Leysritt."

"You should have sent me to wake him instead of Illya, Miss Iri," Sella grumbled as she and Illya walked in.

"Oh?" Iri asked, curious.

"N – Nothing!" Shirou stammered as he sat at the table.

Iri just smiled as the group began eating breakfast.

* * *

Sometime later, Shirou began to leave with several suitcases, Iri and the rest following close behind him.

"Now, do you have enough outfits?" Iri asked.

"Yeah, I've got about a week's worth," he answered.

"Do you have your passport?"

"Yes, Mom, I do," he answered with a calm smile.

"Do you have –?"

"Yes, I have everything I need, Mom," Shirou interrupted as he put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry. And I know what to do in case of emergencies."

"Okay, okay, I just worry," she explained before hugging him tightly.

Shirou's face turned bright red as she did. "M – Mom…"

Pulling away with a smile, she added, "Just consider it a good luck hug." With a regretful frown, she noted, "I'm sorry I'm dumping this on you, but unfortunately, I've got too much to do here."

Shirou shook his head with a smile. "Don't worry, it's fine. I wouldn't mind seeing Italy anyway."

"It's not fair!" Illya pouted as she jumped and hung off Shirou's shoulders.

"Illya, get off your brother!" Sella demanded.

"But I wanna go to Italy too!"

Pulling her off the teen, Iri chided, " _You_ have school, so you can't."

Illya puffed her cheeks cutely as Iri set her down. "Doesn't Big Brother have school too?"

"The answer's no, Illya," Iri answered with a smile, though a smile that sent shivers down the girl's back.

Shirou chuckled and patted Illya on the head. "Don't worry. I'll get you a souvenir." He then noticed Leysritt staring silently at him and nodded with a smile. "And I'll get you some Italian chocolate, Liz."

She nodded wordlessly.

"Now I've got to get going."

Illya pouted before giving him one last hug. "Okay… come back quick!"

"I will," he answered before Iri looked at the table as he left and ran a small, rectangular package out to him.

"Oh! Don't forget the package! Remember, it's Lucretia Zola."

"I'll remember mom. Don't worry so much," he answered before taking it and leaving.

* * *

Several hours later, Shirou sighed and stretched as he walked out of an airport in Italy. "Man that was long… twelve hours on a plane is way too long… Right… now what?" After a moment of looking around, he nodded to himself. "I should've brought a map." Hanging his head in frustration, he sighed. "Guess I'll have to stick with asking for directions."

"You, stop!" a voice suddenly shouted, getting Shirou's attention.

Blinking, he turned to the source and saw a tall blonde woman with deep blue eyes wearing a fancy red dress with black accents that exposed much of her abundant chest, a sword sheathed at her side. ' _Whoa… she's cute…_ ' "Yes, Ms.?"

"Give me that Grimoire," she demanded bluntly.

"Name?" he retorted just as bluntly.

"Hah?"

"Your name. What is it?"

"Irrelevant. Give me the Grimoire."

"I don't know who you are or what you're talking about, but I just showed up here and then you pop up and try to rob me? Not happening."

"Have it your way," she grumbled before drawing her sword, causing Shirou to put some distance between them.

"Great, I'm dealing with an idiot of a mage."

"Oh? So you have some knowledge of the supernatural? Then I take it you know how dangerous Grimoires are. So hand it over."

"I do, and I also know not to hand them over to random strangers, even if I had one. So unless you can explain why I should even entertain the idea of handing one over to you, don't bug me. Also, drawing a weapon on a complete stranger in the middle of a city isn't going to do anything good for mages. You might even expose us to the wider public."

"I am a knight of the Copper Black Cross, I am permitted to do as I see fit to achieve our goals."

"… Look, just tell me who you are and why you want this thing and maybe we can come to an agreement."

"The less you know about it, the better."

"Then I'm not handing it over to you under any circumstances."

"Have it your way," she rebuffed before thrusting her sword at Shirou, who barely managed to dodge it.

"Hey! You're crazy! Are you trying to cause an incident?!"

"Then hand it over!" she shouted, swinging again.

"No, because you're not the owner!" he growled, turning and sprinting.

"Get back here!"

"Not a chance, you crazy thief!"

"Dammit, stop!"

Their altercation was halted by a powerful explosion.

Shirou turned to the source and saw an enormous, glowing boar rampaging through the center of the Italian city. ' _… Is my luck_ really _this bad!?_ ' "How did that pig even get here!?"

"You can see it?" she asked with surprise.

"Of course I can! I already explained I know about magic! So of course I'd see a Divine Beast!"

The ground shook violently as the behemoth tore through the city, crashing through numerous buildings.

The blonde narrowed her eyes before hissing. "I'll deal with you later, but I need to stop this thing."

"Are you nuts?! Well… you are, but seriously?! You'll get yourself killed!"

"In the defense of the people, it is a necessary sacrifice," she retorted before leaping up to a nearby rooftop and rushing to the monster.

' _She… is she like me…?_ ' Shirou narrowed his eyes before growling. "Dah… screw it." Adjusting his pack, he ran down a nearby alleyway, stopping when he nearly hit someone, a boy with blue hair dressed in unusual clothes. "Huh? Hey kid get out of here!"

The boy blinked in surprise before turning to him. "You can see me?"

"Um… yes?"

After a moment he smirked. "Tell me, are you Shirou Emiya?"

"I… wait… you're not human. Are you?"

Pointing to the wrapped package, the boy asked, "That Grimoire there, what do you plan on doing with it?"

Shirou tilted his head in mild confusion. "This brick? It's just something my mother told me to take to an old friend of my father's."

The boy smirked in amusement. "I see. Well, good luck to you." Snapping his fingers, the boy then vanished.

Shirou blinked and then sighed heavily. "Ah fuck… that was the god behind this Divine Beast, wasn't it…?"

As if to confirm his question, the gigantic boar roared loudly before vanishing in a burst of light.

The blonde atop the roof frowned in confusion at the sight before seeing Shirou down below, jumping down to where he was. "You call me crazy, and yet here you are, apparently about to do the same thing."

"I can't do much, but if I can do anything, I can't just stand around and do nothing."

Narrowing her eyes, she sheathed her sword and folded her arms. "Erica Blandelli of the Copper Black Cross."

"Huh?"

"You asked for my name earlier, that's it. Erica."

He narrowed his eyes but nodded. "Shirou Emiya. Can you just tell me why you want this thing?"

"It's a Grimoire, an extremely powerful artifact capable of great destruction, and within the Copper Black Cross, it is our duty to ensure such artifacts are collected and destroyed, and if that is not possible, then they are to be stored somewhere safe."

"I've never heard of this Copper Black Cross. So why should I even consider handing it over?"

"We are a division of the church, primarily one of the two arms that handles incidents of great supernatural interest."

"Then this doesn't concern you. That boar and that kid does."

Erica blinked in surprise. "Kid?"

"Yeah, I ran into the god commanding that boar in this alley. Looked like a real weirdo. Now, my mother expects me to get this tablet to an old friend of my father's, Lucretia Zola. If you agree to not try and kill me or rob me, you're welcome to join me and then talk to her about it. Once it's in her possession she has the right to hand it over, but I don't. Do we have an agreement?"

Erica folded her arms suspiciously. "Can you guarantee she'll hand it over?"

"No. But I can guarantee I'll get you into a situation to talk with her about it."

She sighed heavily before shrugging. "Alright, fine."

Shirou nodded with a smile. "Good to hear. Now, do you know the way to Sardinia?"

"Yes."

"Right. Lead me there to Lucretia, and then I'll let you talk with her about the tablet."

Erica nodded firmly. "Of course!"

* * *

Sometime later, the two sat at a small train station, waiting.

Erica sighed in annoyance. "Why did you insist on the train again?"

Shirou, slightly confused, answered, "It's the quickest way I know that's cheaper than another plane. Not to mention the aisles and windows give a clear view of anything approaching."

"Right…" she muttered, unconvinced.

"What?"

"That only works if it ever gets here." Tapping her foot impatiently, she finally stood, fed up. "Alright, that's enough time wasted. My maid will get us there faster."

Shirou looked at her in surprise. "Eh? I thought you were part of the church."

"What of it?"

"You have a maid," he stated plainly.

The blonde tilted her head in confusion. "And? Is there a problem with that?"

He just stared silently for several moments. "… Are you _really_ part of the church?"

"Yes!"

"Right…" he muttered as she pulled out a cellphone.

* * *

Shortly after that, Erica and Shirou sat in a red car with the driver, a young woman with short, likely elbow-length, dark blue hair, tied up in a ponytail, her bangs framing her bright blue eyes, wearing a maid's uniform of a knee-length black dress, a white apron, black stockings, and dark blue shoes, driving erratically, swerving too hard, driving too fast, and in general being poor at it.

Erica, in the front passenger seat, held onto the handle above the door with all her might, though she gaped when she looked in the back and saw Shirou sitting as calm as a pond.

"Nice ride so far," he remarked, causing the blonde's jaw to almost hit the floor as the car screeched to a high-speed stop in front of a large mansion with a gate around it.

Erica sighed and stretched as she and Shirou got out of the car along with the maid.

"We're here," the maid answered cheerfully.

"Thanks for the ride, Arianna," Shirou offered, causing the maid to smile.

Erica laughed weakly as she walked up to him. "She's a great maid in many ways, but driving is her one weakness."

Shirou just shrugged. "She's definitely not the worst driver I've met."

Erica gave him a deadpan look. "… I find that highly unlikely."

With an almost dead expression, he warned, "Be grateful for the driver you have Erica. Be grateful."

"Right…" she trailed off, turning away from him, slightly disturbed, and motioned to the large mansion. "Well, here it is. Lucretia Zola's mansion."

As Erica went up to knock on the gate, Shirou noticed a cat sitting on the building's roof.

After hearing Erica's knock, the cat looked down at them. "We're here to see Lucretia Zola."

Nodding, it leapt down and walked up to the gate.

"A Familiar?" Shirou wondered, before furrowing his brow as it approached. ' _No… it's a bit too strong to just be that._ ' His suspicion grew further when he watched it unlatch and open the gate with its tail. ' _Definitely not just a Familiar…_ '

 **"What?"** asked the cat, confused at his expression.

"Nothing. Is she here?"

 **"Right inside,"** it answered, pointing to the door with its tail.

"Thanks," Shirou nodded as the three walked to the door, the cat following behind. His eyes went wide when he saw a beautiful woman with long, flowing, bright auburn hair that reached her knees, her bangs framed around her dark violet eyes, wearing a sleeveless, dark lavender one-piece outfit that hugged her form tightly and was very low-cut, showing a large portion of her bulging breasts.

The woman, sprawled out on a long sofa at the back of the room, her bosom almost falling from her clothes, craned her neck up to look at the trio. "Hm? Ah, so many visitors. If I had known any were coming, I'd have gotten dressed."

Shirou just stood silently with his face a bright, vibrant red.

"So, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"I – I'm here to –" Shirou interrupted himself to fix his cracking voice. "Oh. I'm here to deliver something to you. You… are Lucretia Zola, aren't you?"

"In the flesh," she remarked as she sat up, her large orbs shifting with her movement.

"Good," he answered, hurriedly setting the wrapped object on the table before swiftly stepping back.

Lucretia just chuckled in amusement. "You don't need to be so nervous."

"You're… you're not covered at all…" he commented bashfully, not sure where to look.

Lucretia's lips widened further with sly amusement. "You're just like your father was when I first met him."

Shirou looked at her in shock before frowning slightly. "… I'm pretty sure you're thinking of someone else."

She shook her head as she leaned back. "No, no. I assure you that the cold, calculating exterior Kiritsugu had later in life is nothing like how he used to be. Back when Natalia was still teaching him."

Shirou furrowed his brow in thought. "Natalia?"

"Oh? Did he not tell you anything?"

"Tell me what?"

"About himself."

"… Not much, no."

Erica suddenly interrupted, "While this is all fine reminiscing, I'm on a tight schedule."

Lucretia frowned in annoyance at the blonde. "And you are… who?"

"Erica Blandelli, an Enforcer of the Copper Black Cross organization of the Templars. I accompanied Shirou with the sole intention of obtaining that Grimoire so the Copper Black Cross can safely store it away, deep from the reach of anyone."

"So a thief."

"Hardly," she retorted with a huff.

Lucretia folded her arms under her bust with a smirk. "What do you call taking something that doesn't belong to you?"

Pointing to the object, Erica argued, "This Grimoire is a unique situation."

"And yet it still doesn't belong to you. There's no reason it's any less safe in my possession than with your Templars."

Erica hissed in frustration, Shirou sighing in exasperation.

Lucretia unwrapped it before smirking as she looked it over. "I'd forgotten about this one, a Grimoire based on the tale of Perseus."

"Huh?" Shirou muttered.

"Nothing important." After a moment of thought she set the tablet down and redirected her attention to Shirou with a sly grin. "Tell me something, have you ever experienced what it's like to be with a woman?"

Shirou stiffened as he felt the hairs on his neck stand up. "N – No…"

Lucretia then sat up straight, her orbs swaying as she did, Shirou catching a quick glimpse of the pink peak of one. "Then want me to show you what it's like?"

"I – I'm good!" he stammered. ' _Think of Sakura, think of Sa – not in that lingerie!_ ' he shouted in his mind.

Lucretia smirked at his response. "Do you already have someone in your life?"

"… K – Kind of…"

"Want more?"

Shirou gulped deeply as his face tinged red, trying to keep his composure.

Lucretia's smirk just widened.

Erica sighed and stepped between them.

"Hm?" the woman hummed in thought.

"I'm not leaving without that Grimoire."

 **"I guess you're never leaving then,"** the cat commented.

"Quiet, you," Erica snipped.

 **"And why should I?"**

"Why do you think I should hand the Grimoire to you?" Lucretia challenged. "Solely because the higher ups in your group told you to?"

Shirou scratched his head in confusion. "I'd like to know how she knew about it…"

Lucretia merely shrugged. "It's a Grimoire. Anyone with a decent knowledge of magic would've been able to detect one so powerful."

Shirou twitched an eyebrow at that. "… Why didn't Mom do something to hide it…?"

The beautiful brunette giggled in amusement. "Irisviel has always been one for little pranks."

The teen sighed heavily. "… Well having our Templar friend over here following me everywhere demanding something that isn't hers isn't what I'd call a prank."

Erica, finally having enough, shouted, "Do neither of you realize the threat a Grimoire like this poses?!"

Shirou huffed, "Do you not know much about magical defenses?"

"What?"

"I'll take that as a no."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Bounded Fields are very good security."

"The Twelve-Layer Magical Barrier of Copper Black Cross' vault is much better than any manmade Bounded Field."

Lucretia merely snorted in derision. "Yes, because the church's security has never failed."

Erica winced before sighing. "… For now I'll leave it be, but I'll be back to get that Grimoire."

Lucretia rebutted her suggestion. "If you leave now it'll be dark before you get back to the city. Stay the night. I promise I won't put any curses on you."

"Right…"

"After all, there'd be no fun in it."

Shirou retorted, "It's either that or Arianna drives us back. Though I'm not worried about it."

Erica twitched an eyebrow. "… Fine. We'll stay. _One_ night."

Shirou looked at her in disbelief. "… We? I'm going home."

Lucretia interjected, "I'm afraid that's not happening. There won't be any more taxis until tomorrow."

Shirou twitched an eyebrow before sighing. "Damn… Geez. Meeting a god for the first time wasn't what I expected. Mom's going to kill me if she finds out… Best not to tell her…"

"Oh? I don't think Irisviel would be too upset you ran into a god."

Shirou just stared at her.

"Fufu, she'd probably be more upset it wasn't a goddess."

Shirou twitched an eyebrow whilst his face turned bright red, Erica sighing heavily. Turning to her, he asked, "Something wrong?"

"I think she's jealous," Lucretia teased.

Sniggering, the cat added, **"Oh big time."**

"Though to my understanding it's pretty rare for gods to just show up nowadays. They usually keep to themselves"

"It is. On a similar topic, can you tell me what you remember of the god you ran into?"

"Well he summoned a giant boar, looked like a boy with blue hair, and wore really weird clothes like something from an old movie."

The witch put a hand on her chin in thought. "Based on everything I've heard you report, that was likely the war god Verethragna."

"… I am not even going to try and pronounce that. At all. Any idea why Vere is here?"

"Have you heard the term Rogue God before?"

Shirou just stared silently.

"Right… Verethragna is a Rogue God. That's a god who comes down from whichever metaphysical realm he normally inhabits and comes to our world. Normally they do it to cause mischief or, in some cases, disasters. Most Rogue Gods do little more than cause strange occurrences in the lives of humans that interest them. But some gods cause problems on a much larger scale. For example, if a war god becomes a Rogue God, then it's possible he could cause violence and war to occur or even escalate in a location he goes to."

"I see… Then how do we stop him?"

Erica argued, "Stop him? I'm afraid it's not that simple. Gods are immortal. Not only that, human weapons, even things such as missiles and bombs, would only damage a god's physical body. If you wanted to drive a god away you would need to damage his soul, and there's only a single group of people capable of doing that."

"Right…"

"Do you at least have enough magical knowledge to know who that group is?"

Shirou nodded. "Yes. The Campione. They're humans who, through some means or another, killed a god and absorbed their power, and are given way too much authority because of it."

The two just stared at him with disbelief and a hint of unease.

"What?"

Sighing, Lucretia explained, "It's very unwise to speak ill of the Campione, regardless of your opinion of them."

Shirou just folded his arms. "Then name a single good one."

"Lady Aisha."

"Eh?"

"Lady Aisha, also known as the Eternal Beauty or the Queen of Caves. She stays to herself most of the time, but she is known within the magic community to heal all. She can heal any injury, physical, spiritual, or otherwise, and she rarely refuses to heal anyone."

"I see…"

"So while most of them aren't pleasant, they aren't strictly evil."

"Voban."

"I said most."

"Right…"

Erica added, "So if we're going to stop Verethragna, we need to find a Campione and get its help."

Shirou frowned in thought before looking at the Grimoire. "… Hey… what does this Grimoire do?"

Lucretia offered a wide, mischievous smirk. "The Tale of Perseus allows the user to steal a single ability of a god when it is aimed at them."

"What are Vere – wait, how is his tale related to theft?"

"The legend says Perseus decapitated Medusa and used her severed head as a weapon against Cetus to save Andromeda."

"Yeah, I know that, but how is that stealing anything? He had to fight and kill the Gorgon to get that power."

"First, her name is Medusa. Second, that's not the true legend. He snuck up on Medusa while she was sleeping, using a mirror-shield to avoid her snake-hair's gaze, and cut one of her snake-heads off, since he feared getting close enough to take her whole head was too dangerous."

"Oh. That makes sense. So then, what are Verethraga's powers?"

"Verethragna has a sword that allows him to slay another god so long as he knows as much as he can about it."

"Then we take it and use it on him."

"It's not that simple. You still need to know everything you can about him."

"If I can get his sword I should be able to use Structural Analysis to get his history."

Erica folded her arms defiantly. "Structural Analysis doesn't work like that."

Lucretia argued, "You're only looking at the surface. Those inexperienced with Structural Analysis would only see its ability to analyze the physical world. Those that have a deep understanding of it can tell the exact history of an object. Including who made it, how, and when."

Erica frowned incredulously. "… And I'm supposed to believe he has that?"

Motioning to the slightly perplexed Shirou, Lucretia urged, "Show him your best weapon and we will see."

Erica narrowed her eyes before a rapier appeared in her grasp that she handed to the teen.

Shirou took a breath as he focused on the weapon. "… Cuore di Leone. Mystic sword imbued with the magic of steel from the center of Damascus, wielded by the Saint Raffaello. It is completely indestructible, able to heal itself of any wounds, and has a sister sword named Il Maestro. Made from Mithril and cooled in the blood of an angel willingly given."

Erica just stared in disbelief as Lucretia smirked and remarked, "Told you."

The blonde just grumbled before dismissing the weapon.

Shirou frowned in thought.

' _Something wrong?_ ' a voice in his head asked.

Shirou raised an eyebrow in surprise. ' _You're finally awake, Brunhilde._ '

' _Indeed. Had a nice long sleep. I see you've copied a new weapon to your arsenal._ '

' _It wasn't for that purpose, it was just a display of my abilities, but it's nice to have it._ '

' _True. Every little bit helps. Especially a Mystic Code of this quality._ '

After a moment, Erica, somewhat perturbed, asked, "Why are you just standing there?"

"Thinking of battle plans."

"Right…" she answered, incredulous.

"So what now?"

"We find Verethragna," Lucretia replied.

"Sounds like fun…"

 **"Oh it will be,"** the cat interjected yet again.

"That said, since you'll need this to take down Verethragna, I'll be giving the Grimoire back to you for the time being." Smirking, Lucretia sat up straighter. "Now, let's move the conversation to something less boring."

Shirou twitched an eyebrow and swiftly turned away from her.

"What if I told you I was old enough to be your grandmother?"

Shirou winced before turning to her in disbelief. "I'd call you a cougar."

Lucretia merely shrugged, still smirking. "Well, you wouldn't be wrong. I try very hard to keep myself looking this young. How about I let you see what this body can really do?"

Shirou winced and gulped deeply before Brunhilde commented, ' _She is trying extremely hard to get in your pants…_ '

' _Y – Yeah…_ ' he stammered before noticing the cat looking at him with what he swore was a grin. ' _… I know it's not a normal cat, but seeing a cat grinning is unnerving._ '

' _Especially when it's a Youkai._ '

' _… Damn. That explains a lot._ '

' _Oh?_ '

' _I thought this cat was Lucretia's Familiar at first, but she's way too strong for that._ '

Brunhilde hummed in thought. ' _True. If I had to guess, I'd say her power is close to that of low-grade Ultimate Class._ '

' _Right… then what's she doing hiding here in some random mage's house?_ '

' _How would I know._ '

Shirou just sighed in annoyance.

' _Ask the cat if you're curious. Curiousity only kills them after all._ '

"Ooh!" Arianna cheered as she saw a wine cabinet nearby. "This looks like really good wine!"

Shirou furrowed his brow. "… This can't be good…"

* * *

Shirou sighed heavily as he sat in one of the sofas.

"Oy! Pour me some more wine!" Erica, her face deeply red with drunkenness, shouted.

"I keep telling you…"

"Come on, don't keep that same expression on your face and do something!"

"Listen to me, dammit…!"

Erica grumbled as she scowled at a metal mask hanging in front of a mirror.

"That's not me…! Arianna, can't you do something!?"

Arianna, completely plastered, merely laughed stupidly as she flung her arm over a railing.

"… Great…" He just sighed before sipping from the glass. "… This stuff tastes horrible."

Lapping from Lucretia's glass, the cat commented, **"People don't drink it for the taste."**

Shirou just huffed. "How old is this? A year? Two?"

"Try a hundred," Lucretia retorted.

He just stared at her. "You've got shit wine."

"That's up to interpretation."

"Then either that or this isn't a hundred years old."

"Well, not everyone can handle Moonlight."

Shirou just looked at her in disbelief before sighing as he heard Erica still shouting at the mask.

"Shirou, why don't you get her to bed?"

"Me? Why can't her maid do it?" he asked before the cat pointed her tail to Arianna, passed out on the stairs. "… I'll get her to a bed too."

* * *

Shirou dragged the two staggering women to a bedroom in the back of the mansion and shoved them at the large bed, Erica grabbing his hand as she stumbled back. "Wh – Whoa! H – Hey!"

Erica giggled lightly as she held his face. "Fufu, up close like this… you're pretty handsome…" she mumbled weakly as Arianna snored loudly nearby.

Shirou, smelling her perfume, gulped and barely managed to spring himself from her grasp. "J – Just… get some rest…" He hurried to the room's door but stopped with terror as the door refused to open.

* * *

Outside the room, Lucretia chuckled as her cat walked up to her carrying a large golden key in its mouth before dropping it in the mage's hand. "Oh this is going to be fun. Right, Kuroka?"

The cat leaned back before glowing and engulfed in a burst of smoke. When the smoke died down, a young woman stood with a voluptuous figure, and noticeably large breasts, long black hair with split bangs, and amber eyes with slit pupils, however what was most noticeable was the fact that she had two cat tails at the base of her spine just above her shapely ass and a pair of fluffy cat ears atop her head, wearing a black kimono with a red interior that she kept hung off her shoulders, exposing most of her breasts, as well as a yellow obi, a set of large, golden beads, and an ornate headdress that kept most of her hair tied up.

The cat-eared woman, Kuroka, nodded with a sly smirk. "I can't wait to see how it turns out, nya."

Lucretia chuckled in agreement as she set the key down. "You and me both, Kuroka. We might get lucky and have just helped with the creation of a new Campione."

Kuroka retorted, " _If_ he survives, nya… The kid has some terrible luck after all, nya."

"Didn't you sense it?"

"Sense what, nya?"

Grinning, Lucretia replied, "That boy will be very hard to kill, even for a deity."

"Hoh?" Kuroka mumbled as she licked her plump lips with excitement. "Hope you're right, nya. He nearly died as a kid, nya."

Lucretia raised an eyebrow in response. "Oh? Do you know him?"

"Yeah, but I doubt he remembers me, nya."

"Interesting. If he doesn't, don't push it."

Kuroka nodded in return. "I won't even ask, nya."

"Good. Now, let's see what he does tonight."

"Right, nya."

* * *

The next morning, Shirou groaned heavily as he awoke. "What… happened…?" he grumbled as he tried to sit up and then looked around to see Erica and Arianna passed out on the bed, flanking him, holding onto his arms. ' _How'd I get in bed?! Gotta get free…! How drunk was I?!_ '

Brunhilde spoke up and eased, ' _Don't worry, you just passed out. As for how you got on the bed from the floor… no idea._ '

' _Right… I've got to get myself free of these two before they wake up…_ '

* * *

"Sleep well?" Lucretia asked as the others gathered in her lounge.

"I did until my luck kicked in…" Shirou groaned.

"Oh? Care to explain?"

"Fell asleep on the floor. Woke up _not_ on the floor."

As the two spoke, Erica stared curiously out of the window as Kuroka, now back in her cat form, sat on Lucretia's lap.

Lucretia merely smirked in amusement.

Shirou frowned suspiciously. "What…?"

"Oh, nothing," the sly woman answered with amusement.

"Right… So… What are we doing today?"

Lucretia hummed as she put a hand on her chin in thought before Erica questioned, "Does it normally rain this hard?"

Look outside, the woman furrowed her brow somewhat. "No, it doesn't. Not this time of year. It is rather odd for it to be hitting so rough."

Shirou slumped his shoulders heavily. "… Curse my E-Rank Luck…"

Kuroka sat up and commented, **"Guess we've got another Rogue God on the way."**

Lucretia nodded in agreement as she looked outside in thought. "Explains the weather. And considering our location… Melqart was likely unsealed."

Shirou twitched an eyebrow at that. "… Mom is so going to kill me…"

"You seem rather convinced Irisviel is going to kill you over something you can't control."

"I promised her everything will be alright and there's no need to worry!"

"That was stupid."

"Eh?"

"When dealing with the world of magic, especially when you're already aware you have such bad luck, making any promises on how things will go is setting yourself up for the Fates to have some fun."

The conversation was interrupted as the entire building shook harshly.

"Oh boy…" Shirou muttered.

"Looks like Melqart is here," Lucretia remarked before Erica ran out one of the building's back doors and gasped as she looked into the sky.

Shirou immediately chased after her, seeing the area surrounded with thick mist and rain, only to then see a massive figure, resembling a tall, bearded man with dark grey skin and old-fashioned armor who stood nearly twenty meters in height. ' _HOLY SHIT!_ '

Erica frowned in thought as she stared.

' _Is he a god or a Titan?!_ '

' _I'd say he's a bit of both,_ ' Brunhilde answered.

' _I see…_ '

' _Do you have the tablet?_ '

Shirou raised an eyebrow in confusion. ' _Yeah…? I thought we were saving it for Verethragna._ '

' _He'll more than likely show up._ '

Erica tightened her fists and gulped nervously.

Shirou stared silently in thought. ' _I have a dumb idea…_ '

' _What is i –?_ '

She immediately got her answer when Shirou stepped out onto the balcony and shouted, "Lord Melqart!"

Brunhilde gaped in disbelief for several moments. ' _… Well that's certainly dumb._ '

Melqart stopped and turned to her with a scowl of irritation. **"How arrogant must you be, child of man, to stop a god's advance?"**

Shirou narrowed his eyes as he responded, "I am not being arrogant Lord Melqart, merely proposing an Alliance. You're off to fight Verethragna, are you not?" ' _Info on Melqart, fast!_ ' "After all, you are the king of the gods of the Phoenicians, Lord Melqart."

 **"So there are still praiseworthy individuals who know the names of the ancient kings."** Melqart then straightened his stance and stood tall. **"I am Melqart! The king once known throughout this land! No, throughout these entire waters!"**

Kuroka huffed, **"Well he's certainly full of himself."**

"I offer an alliance against Verethragna!" Shirou declared loudly.

Melqart huffed with disgust. **"Do you think me so weak as to need the aid of mortals to kill that boy?"**

Shirou shook his head in response. "No, but if you fought him with all of your might, you could possibly kill future worshippers, leaving you with less of a kingdom."

The titanic god narrowed his eyes in thought. **"And what have you to help?"**

"A Grimoire that will steal his power," Shirou answered as he raised the Tale of Perseus high.

 **"Hmph, you amuse me, mortal. You stand before a god, yet show no hint of fear."** With a boisterous laugh, Melqart added, **"Very well, I will allow you to bask in the glory of my victory!"**

Shirou smirked victoriously as Melqart walked away. ' _Great. It worked. Okay… now what?_ '

Brunhilde answered, ' _Now we need to get in position._ '

' _Where?_ '

' _A spot where we got a perfect view of the fight from high up._ '

"Hm… Lucretia, are there any high spots here?"

Lucretia put a hand on her chin in consideration. "There's a cliff edge overlooking the beach south of here."

Shirou nodded in return as he began to leave. "Right. This is where we part ways then."

Before he could, though, Lucretia grabbed him by the collar. "Not happening, kiddo."

"Why?" he asked, frowning.

"You think we're letting you take this on yourself?"

"You should. Only one of us needs to be up there. You all would just be getting yourselves killed needlessly."

"It's going to take time to arm that Grimoire," Erica argued.

Shirou nodded in understanding. "That's what the alliance with Melqart is for, so he can keep Verethragna busy and force him to summon that sword so I can steal it."

Kuroka hopped on his shoulder and poked him with a single claw. **"They're coming, so give up stopping them."**

"But –"

 **"No buts, Shirou,"** she interrupted.

"… Fine."

 **"Good,"** she purred as she rubbed her face against his cheek.

"Lead the way…" he noted in resignation to Lucretia.

* * *

Soon, Lucretia led the group to a cliff with a view over the nearby ocean and beach below.

"This is it?" Shirou asked, Lucretia nodding.

"This is a heck of a view," Erica commented in awe.

Shirou nodded in agreement as he looked over the ocean. "Yeah… good for a final sight… You all can still go back, you know."

' _They're getting close,_ ' Brunhilde warned.

"Last chance for you to run," Shirou offered, Lucretia hugging his arm into her cleavage.

Suddenly, the rain and wind picked up violently.

"That light…" Erica muttered as she looked at the clouds. "Verethragna is coming."

Holding up the Grimoire, Shirou nodded to himself. "Then I'd best get ready."

At that moment, Erica summoned her rapier as Lucretia's hands filled with bright blue energy.

Shirou frowned somewhat, though, as he clenched his fingers around the tablet. "I guess you really do plan to fight."

"If we must," Erica remarked.

At that same moment, Melqart smashed through a nearby rock wall onto the beach below.

"There's our ally," Shirou remarked. "Now where's the target?"

As Melqart advanced, a powerful bolt of lightning shot down and hit his arm.

"Found him."

"It's been a while, Melqart," Verethragna remarked as he floated above the titanic god.

 **"Brat,"** Melqart hissed.

"It seems my wound from when we last fought has yet to heal."

Melqart huffed in derision. **"You revived me out of your own conceited desire to fight, to see who is strongest. I will not allow your injury to have me overlook this."**

Verethragna grinned with excitement. "I look forward to it."

 **"We shall, boy,"** Melqart snarled in irritation and sent a blast of lightning at the blue-haired boy, only for Verethragna to counter it with his own blast of electricity which was countered by a gust of wind. Melqart then slammed his gigantic fists down, Verethragna easily dodging before appearing behind him, punching the giant in the back of the head, making him tumble forward.

Melqart growled and sent a tornado of wind and water flying at Verethragna.

The boy chuckled before raising a hand. "Come now, be more original," he taunted before sending it back at the huge god.

Shirou narrowed his eyes. "Lucretia, hit Verethragna now while he's distracted."

Lucretia smirked and raised a hand. "Hell Lance!" she shouted before a massive spear made of fire appeared from a magic circle and shot towards the boy, hitting him in the back and sending him fly away.

Verethragna snarled as the injury healed and turned to them.

Melqart summoned a giant club which he then swung at Verethragna, missing, the shock wave causing a huge chunk of the nearby island to explode.

Erica frowned in worry. "This is bad. If their fighting gets any worse, it could destroy all of Sardinia."

"Oy, Melqart! Careful! You're destroying your lands!"

The massive deity just snarled, before Verethragna smirked and taunted, "Ho? Have you become so frail you're relying on a mortal's aid?"

Melqart snarled at him. **"No, I simply don't want to destroy my kingdom killing an insect."**

As the group watched the battle, Lucretia turned to Shirou. "I hope you're prepared for this, Shirou."

"What do you mean?"

"To the vast majority of humans, simply activating a Grimoire of that power would cost them a life."

Shirou winced before tightening his grip and looking to the dueling gods. "Well if it stops these two from killing hundreds or thousands of people, it's worth it. Besides…" Shirou trailed off before sporting a somber smile. "I kind of felt that no matter what happens here, I was going to die soon. So can you both do me one last request?"

Erica looked at him in shock as Lucretia nodded. "Name it."

"Tell my sister I'm sorry for not getting her a souvenir."

Lucretia nodded with a smile. "Of course."

"You aren't afraid of dying?" Erica asked in mild confusion.

Shirou laughed weakly and shook his head. "No, it's more like I see it this way: I can either die when their battle blows the island to hell, or I can drag at least one of those bastards down with me." After a moment of thought he turned to Lucretia curious. "Um… what's so special about the sword anyway?"

"It severs a god's connection to his Divinity, making him just as weak as a mortal," she explained.

"Oh. Right, and using Structural Analysis will give me everything I need to make it work on him."

"It will, but you'll need time to take in that much info."

"Which is something we don't really have…" Shirou remarked as he stared at the tablet.

Verethragna dodged a blast of lightning from Melqart and grinned before slapping his hands together.

Shirou nodded and raised the Grimoire into the air as Verethragna spread his hands, a long, curved, golden sword appearing in his grasp.

Verethragna grinned and swung his blade at the giant god. "Disappear, Melqart!" However, right as he swung the blade, it vanished. "Huh?"

Melqart laughed in amusement. **"Hm? Lose your gusto? That's okay. Just means I can kill you!"**

After a moment the tablet glowed and the same sword appeared in his hands, he held it firmly as his mind raced.

Verethragna grinned in amusement as he observed. "So it seems I was right."

Shirou took a deep breath before sliding down the cliff towards the beach near where the two gods were fighting.

Erica gaped in disbelief. "… He is going to die…"

Shirou then stabbed the golden sword into the ground, causing a bright, gold light to spread throughout the entire area.

 **"Hm?"** Melqart muttered curiously as he watched a large number of swords emerge from the ground and float into the air.

The boy found the act amusing before he noticed all the swords. "Huh? Wait, this is –!" he shouted before all the swords pointed directly at him.

Verethragna's face went white in disbelief. "No! That's impossible! I can't be killed by my own –!" he began, stopping when one of the blades shot forward, impaling his abdomen. "… Huh?" He looked down at the sword just before dozens more speared him.

Shirou grinned confidently as blood began to drip from his mouth. "You lose, Verebaka…"

Verethragna slumped forward before trembling.

"Finally realize it?"

The boy then threw his head back, laughing wildly.

"Eh?"

Verethragna then looked down at Shirou, grinning. "I must admit, I haven't encountered a situation like this in a long time! You are a god-slayer who has taken the God of Victory's Authority! In my name you must never fail!" Verethragna's body was consumed by flames before vaporizing.

Shirou groaned as blood dripped from his mouth before collapsing to the ground.

* * *

After a moment, he awoke to find himself in an unknown, endless white space. "Ugh… where… am I…?"

A mysterious voice commented with amusement, "So another child enters my care."

"Child?" He looked up and saw a girl with a slender frame and fair skin, her hair being bright pink and held in two long ponytails that reached her knees, her bangs framing her face which was accentuated by her bright green eyes, wearing a low-cut, white, sleeveless dress with detached, wrist-length sleeves, white stockings, and white, high-heeled shoes. "Wow… Is this… heaven?"

"Not quite," she remarked. The girl smiled as she looked him over. "It's been several centuries since the last time a Campione was born."

Shirou's eyes went wide before he sighed heavily. "… Just my luck…"

"Guess this means you're not a human anymore," a new voice commented.

He and the pink-haired girl turned to see a young woman with long, calf-length, light blue hair that flared out in wing-like shapes near the ends, her straight-cut bangs ending just above her dark purple eyes, wearing a short, sleeveless, black dress that clung tightly to her moderate bosom, with a pleated skirt, and blue and purple armored corset over her dress, matching, shoulder-length gauntlets, and equally matching, thigh-high armored, high-heeled boots.

"Benny?" the two asked in unison.

The blue-haired woman twitched an eyebrow. "Brunhilde! It's Brunhilde! I'd think you would know better, Pandora!"

Pandora pouted in response. "But Benny's cuter! And it's your nickname!"

Shirou looked at the twin-tailed girl in thought. "Wait, so you're Pandora?"

Turning to him with a twirl, Pandora nodded. "Yep! Your mother!"

Shirou's eyes went wide in shock. "… Y – You're my mother…? Really?"

Brunhilde smacked the girl on the head, hard. "Figuratively. Pandora is the one who decides if a mortal that kills a god will become a Campione or not, thus she is referred to as the Mother of Campione."

"Oh… So… I'm a Campione…? Curse my E-Rank Luck…"

Brunhilde sighed before shrugging. "I'd say it could be worse, but that's probably just egging Norn to prove me right."

"Agreed… Great, now I have two moms to deal with and make Mother's Day chocolates for."

Brunhilde waved a hand dismissively. "No, you can safely ignore Pandora."

"Why…?"

"Hey! I'm standing right here!"

"I know," Brunhilde retorted, folding her arms under her chest. "You're just not worth considering."

Shirou responded by whacking her on the head, eliciting a cute shout from the woman. "Don't be rude to my new mother."

Brunhilde just stared at him. "… Do you have a mother complex or something?"

Shirou just stared blankly for several moments. "… I have no idea…"

Pandora and Brunhilde stared in disbelief before Pandora coughed nervously. "… Right… on that note you should head back."

"Right…"

* * *

Shirou's consciousness moved from the white expanse where Pandora and Brunhilde were back to reality, where he felt his head resting on something warm on soft. He groaned as he came to and realized his head was resting on Erica's soft, warm thighs. "… Erica…?"

Her blue eyes went wide in shock. "Shirou…? You're alive!"

"Y – Yeah… something like that…" he trailed off with a nervous laugh. "G – Guess I had enough mana to survive, and my Luck thought it'd be worse that I did to suffer Mom's wrath." ' _Please buy it!_ ' he shouted in his mind.

Lucretia chuckled lightly as she sat on a rock nearby. "See? Told you he was fine. He's a Campione now after all."

Shirou looked at her somewhat annoyed. "… Tell no one."

Lucretia just shrugged. "Any mage worth their salt will be able to tell with a single look. So Irisviel will know the moment she lays eyes on you."

"Not what I meant. Don't let _any_ mage groups know. I do _not_ need to bring this kind of stuff onto my family."

Lucretia nodded in return. "I'll do my best to keep it a secret."

"Thanks… I don't this to bother my mom or drag my sister into our world."

Erica, meanwhile, stared in silence at him.

"What?" he questioned, slightly concerned.

After a moment, she simply shook her head. "Nothing."

"Right…" Blinking in thought, he looked around in confusion. "Hey… where's Melqart?"

Erica looked down at him in surprise. "Huh? Did you forget? You killed him."

"I did? All I remember was killing Verewhatever and waking up in some weird place."

Lucretia shrugged in response. "Well after killing Verethragna you took out Melqart as well. Whether you remember it or not isn't particularly relevant."

Shirou frowned in response. "So I murdered an ally…"

Lucretia shook her head and put a hand on his shoulder. "No, he turned on you first, he was planning on being the one to kill Verethragna and was enraged you did."

"Huh… you'd think Pandora or Brunhilde would have said something… Great… not even a day and she's already like my mother…"

The girls merely gazed at him in disbelief.

"What?"

"You met Pandora?" Lucretia asked with shock.

"Yeah, I met my new mother. Why?"

"That's… impressive."

"And who's Brunhilde?" Erica questioned.

"A goddess I know," he answered simply.

Lucretia responded with a wide smirk. "You are a _very_ interesting young man."

"… Let's just get going… I'm hungry."

"Right, let's get off this dirty beach and get back to my house."

* * *

After night had fallen, the group approached Lucretia's home, a letter rather brazenly nailed to the door.

Lucretia grabbed it with an annoyed smirk. "Those old fools certainly move fast."

"Huh?"

Lucretia turned to him and showed him the letter. "It seems you've been summoned to Rome. The heads of the Mage's Society of Italy wish to meet with you. I suppose they want to see what you can do. I'm amazed they learned you became a Campione so fast."

"No," he retorted bluntly. "I refuse. I'm not going and dragging my family back into the eyes of the Magic Community."

Lucretia shrugged before answering. "Well if we don't go there on our own they'll just teleport us there."

Shirou scowled deeply at that.

"What I'd like to know is how they found out so fast."

Shirou turned his ire to Erica, who quickly responded, "I have no desire to help the Mage's Association with anything."

"… Then who did it…?"

After a moment of silent thought, Brunhilde urged, ' _We should go._ '

' _Why…?_ '

' _Doing so will let you put down what you want them to do or not to do. Meaning you can order them to not let anyone know of your family and threaten to wipe them out if someone comes after them. I know you don't like the whole Campione throwing their weight around thing, but don't compromise your family for your pride._ '

' _… Right…_ ' Sighing, Shirou turned to Lucretia and nodded. "Let's go meet them."

Lucretia nodded with a smile. "Right."

* * *

As the group made their way down the road towards the end of Lucretia's driveway, Brunhilde suddenly spoke bluntly to Shirou. ' _I'm somewhat surprised._ '

' _By what?_ '

' _That you haven't tried to dissect the girls with all that weird info your father filled your head with._ '

' _I generally try to resist analyzing people, it usually doesn't end well. Remember?_ '

' _Right, right,_ ' Brunhilde commented with mild amusement. ' _I still think Shinji deserved it._ '

* * *

 **And cut! Thus ends the first chapter of CSK! Hopefully you all enjoyed it, so be sure to let me know with a review if you did. If you were confused, unsure, or have questions on anything let me know with a review and I will do what I can to address your concerns in the next chapter's reviewer responses. Though if your questions are spoiler-related you will have better luck with PMs, as I try to be as vague as possible when it comes to spoilers, since not everyone likes them. As for if you did not like it, review if you must, but do try to be civil about it, and legible, or better yet find something else you actually enjoy and do that instead! Anyway, until next time, bye-bye!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter II**

 **Greetings all, I am back with the next chapter of Crimson Sword King! I know it is a rather swift turn around rate for me, but I have a bit of passion for this story at the moment. That said, hopefully you enjoyed the previous chapter, a few people at least. I hope you enjoy this one as well, be sure to review if you do. As usual, props to my coauthor Bakuto Masaki for all of his help. On to the reviewer responses!**

 **Story Reiter: The passage of time in reality and dreams aren't always the same. You too.**

 **Rankin de Merthyr: I figured people would understand she has an understanding of the magical world and would have likely seen Kuroka, but maybe I expected too much.**

 **Reishin Amara: Among other things.**

 **ZenithTempest: That's usually the goal. Well the Mage's Association had only heard rumors he's a Campione, they hadn't confirmed it yet. Plus sometimes the rules need to bent a little for narrative purposes, it's often called a director/author's Rule of Cool.**

 **I can already confirm there are a lot. I will on the second point.**

 **I see.**

 **Josephantom: He _used_ Trace. Trace is the common name for Structural Analysis.**

 **superpeirce: That was before I had watched Fate/Kaleid and began to like that Shirou better. I just felt the original was too Holier-Than-Thou among other things, but that one was better.**

 **Tsunashi777: Issei isn't in this story, so I assume you mean Shirou, and there's no way in hell I'm _not_ adding Rias to the harem.**

 **BloodWolf752: Of course.**

 **The Rupture: You are _way_ off the mark there.**

 **Spoilers, you'll have to wait on that one.**

 **I'm already doing a Fate/Campione story, this one, so I'm not overly interested on doing another one.**

 **Something: He will.**

 **Kaze: That was before he became a Campione, in case you hadn't noticed.**

 **Guest: Considering what you likely mean by overboard, this will go way over it.**

 **ultima-owner: I can only hope.**

 **Storybored4: Well I surprise sometimes. Yeah, I like some things about Issei more than Shirou but Shirou probably fits this role better. Well I'll just be updating based on what I feel like doing at the time.**

 **: No habla Espanol.**

 **PanickingNoob94: A few people have pointed that out, but it seems fine to me. To each their own I guess.**

 **Saisri: How was Shirou a wimp?**

 **correnhimself316: You'll learn eventually.**

 **Sonicdude8: You'll find out soon.**

 **EternalKing: I'm not super fond of Erica myself, but people _really_ complained when I excised her, so I thought I'd just try and find a way to fix her, which I will. It will be explained soon. I'm not going to frontload everything.**

 **Guest: You'll get a fight soon.**

 **Guest: Indeed, that he is.**

 **Fortitude: I don't see it, and you're not the first person to point that out, but I just don't see it.**

 **piddle: There is no male Arthur.**

 **Guest Q: I can guarantee now that Bleach isn't in the story. Shinmai is in, I believe Brunhilde's presence confirmed that. I can't really think of anything else to say that wouldn't be too spoiler-filled.**

 **Guest: Okay, you are like the eighth person to say that, and I talked to Bakuto and neither of us can see it. No matter how we look at it, we don't really see the "stupid" a lot of people keep pointing out.**

 **LockeBelmont: Who?**

 **Guest: Get over what? Again, everyone is talking about things I simply don't see.**

 **AnimeA55Kicker: That's the idea.**

 **Phew, that was a lot! That is all for the reviewer responses, so on with the show!**

* * *

As the group made their way down the road towards the end of Lucretia's driveway, Brunhilde suddenly spoke bluntly to Shirou. ' _I'm somewhat surprised._ '

' _By what?_ '

' _That you haven't tried to dissect the girls with all that weird info your father filled your head with._ '

' _I generally try to resist analyzing people, it usually doesn't end well. Remember?_ '

' _Right, right,_ ' Brunhilde commented with mild amusement. ' _I_ _still think Shinji deserved it._ '

' _Right…_ '

' _You don't? Sakura seemed happy when he had that… accident._ '

' _I just don't like killing when it isn't necessary._ '

Brunhilde huffed dismissively. ' _With that maggot, it was, and we both know it. Besides, you didn't kill him. He was hit by a bus._ '

' _Right…_ '

' _Now let us get in the car a – jump back now!_ '

Taking heed to her words, Shirou grabbed Arianna and Erica and pulled them from the car as he and Lucretia jumped back before the car suddenly exploded violently.

"The hell?!"

At that moment, a new voice remarked flippantly, "Oops, guess I overdid it."

Shirou immediately turned to the voice and saw a young-looking man with blonde hair and blue eyes sitting on a rock nearby. "What the hell did you just do that for?!"

The man chuckled in amusement. "Well I couldn't have you leaving just yet, Seventh King."

Erica narrowed her eyes suspiciously before widening them in shock. "Wait… that man… he's Lord Salvatore Doni."

Shirou huffed in irritation. "… Your Campione's an asshole."

Arianna put a finger on her chin in confusion. "Um… he's the guy who thinks he rules Italy, right?"

Shirou frowned as he looked at Doni, who chuckled dismissively. "Come now, I don't merely _think_ that. I _am_ Italy's King."

"… Italy is the land of Rome. They don't have kings, they have emperors," Shirou argued.

Doni stood up and leapt down from the tall boulder, a long, black and silver sword with a cross-like appearance flashing into his grasp. "Now, how about we quit the babbling and get down to business?"

Shirou felt a scourge of hatred boil from Brunhilde. ' _… Tear him apart._ '

Shirou, however, frowned slightly. "Look, I'd really rather not fight."

Doni frowned in disappointment. "Huh? Not willing to fight? Hm… then how about a little incentive?" He then raised a hand into the air. "Oh priestesses of Bacchus, be drunk with the wine of gods! Divine Confusion!"

Shirou narrowed his eyes before he heard Erica scream and turned to see her sword seemingly come to life, glowing brightly and warping and twisting around her. "What are you doing!?"

Doni remarked with a smirk, "Simple, Divine Confusion is an Authority I gained from killing Dionysus. It causes any spell or magical item within a certain radius to go haywire. Now, if you don't want that beauty over there to be chopped apart, you'd better hope you can defeat me."

Shirou snarled and slapped his hands together. "Brunhilde!" With a flash of light, a large, curved, silver sword with a large green jewel near the hilt appeared in his grasp, a silver and black gauntlet covering his forearm.

' _Now kill him!_ '

Doni smirked in amusement. "Oh? Finally willing to fight? Although, do you truly plan to fight me without your Authority?"

Shirou narrowed his eyes with a scowl. "I don't want to, but if you're going to push it that far, I will," he growled before charging.

' _Not from the front!_ '

Doni's smirk widened. "Oh blood of the evil dragon Fafnir, bestow upon me the fate of invulnerability! Man of Steel!"

Swinging at him, Shirou gasped as his sword merely bounced off before Doni kicked him away with immense force. ' _What the hell is his skin made of!?_ '

Responding angrily, Brunhilde shouted, ' _Black steel hardened by Fafnir's blood. An Authority he got along with that sword from killing Siegfried. If you want to beat him, do as I say!_ '

' _Stop shouting! I'm having a hard enough time thinking as it is!_ '

Raising his right arm, Doni chanted, "I hereby swear, I deny the existence of things I cannot cut! Ripping Silver Arm!" His arm glowed a bright violet before turning silver, the sword in his grasp turning silver as well, before the blade shot out, extending towards Shirou, who barely dodged.

' _Then just follow my commands. Hit him in the center of his back, hard!_ '

Doni charged and swung at him, Shirou narrowed his eyes and barely managed to duck, dove under the man's legs, and then landed a powerful blow in the middle of his back, Shirou smirking at the sound of a loud crack.

Doni widened his eyes in disbelief. "Gah! H – How?!"

' _Now don't let up and stab him!_ '

Taking the chance, Shirou went to stab Brunhilde into the crack in Doni's back, but the blade of the blonde's sword curled around suddenly and stuck him in the side, Doni swinging it around and throwing Shirou at a boulder.

Brunhilde growled in frustration. ' _You may need to use that._ '

Shirou gulped deeply. ' _Are you serious? If I just use it a couple times, the mana drain will knock me on my ass!_ '

She retorted, ' _You're a Campione now. You have_ far _more mana than before. Besides that, if you don't, this battle will take ages and Erica will die, and Sieg won't be freed…_ '

Shirou growled as Doni prepared his next attack and slammed a hand against the ground.

The blonde raised a curious eyebrow, Lucretia's eyes widening. ' _Is that…?_ ' she thought in surprise.

Red energy sparked around Shirou before multiple spikes of stone shot up from the ground and barreled at Doni, who just stood still as they impacted around him, exploding violently and sending dust in all directions.

"What was that…?" Arianna asked in disbelief as she tried to pry Cuore di Leone away from Erica.

 **"Alchemy,"** Kuroka explained in surprise, sitting on Lucretia's shoulder.

"Cheap trick," Doni hissed as he waved the dust away, before seeing Shirou gone, only to turn and see the teen's hand on his shoulder with a smirk.

"Hardened steel, eh?" Shirou retorted before red energy sparked over Doni's arm.

His eyes widened as his arm suddenly, and violently, exploding, blasting itself to pieces before he jumped back. "My, my, that was impressive. How'd you do that?"

Shirou twitched an eyebrow as the man's arm regenerated before his eyes, Brunhilde snarking, ' _Next time, aim for his head._ '

' _I know,_ ' he replied, ' _I just wanted to make sure it would work, first._ '

' _Right…_ '

Doni proceeded to swing several times at Shirou, who managed to dodge each one. "Come on, you're not going to dodge all day, are you? Give me a fight or your friends are gonna meet the Reaper."

Shirou barely managed to dodge again. "Why do you want to fight so much?!"

Doni chuckled as Shirou dodged his strikes. "Why? Why not? We're Kings, besides fighting, fucking, and conquering, what else is there to do?"

"You're insane!"

Doni laughed wildly. "You're a King now, just like me. Trust me, in due time you'll see. That said, this is getting boring."

Shirou narrowed his eyes angrily. ' _Can I use any of Verethragna's powers?_ '

Brunhilde sighed in frustration. ' _Yes, but… they have absurdly specific activation conditions._ '

' _… What?_ '

' _It's long._ '

' _Then explain while I try to dodge._ '

' _Very well… Verethragna had ten forms, or Incarnations. Each one has a different ability. The White Stallion, the Tempest, the Bull, the Camel, the Boar, the Adolescent, the Raptor, the Ram, the Goat, and the Warrior._ '

' _That's a lot…_ ' he remarked as he dodged another of Doni's swings.

' _Yeah, but it's far from perfect. The Tempest allows you to teleport from where you are to any other location, however to use it, someone who knows you must be there and call out your name._ '

' _Teleporting around randomly would not be a good thing to do anyway._ '

' _The Bull grants you immense strength, pretty much equal to Heracles. However, to activate it you must be facing someone or something with strength exceeding that of a human and it'll only give you the bare minimum needed to counter them._ '

' _Reinforcement is better for me in that regard._ '

' _The White Stallion allows you to summon a blazing white horse that hits the enemy with the heat of the sun to incinerate them. It can only be used against those who have committed great sins. This bastard being a prime target._ '

' _I'd say,_ ' he quipped as he blocked one of Doni's swings.

' _The Camel gives you an increase to your physical abilities, enhanced strength in your muscles, heightened battle instincts, and instantaneous regeneration. The condition to activate it is that you must be seriously injured first._ '

' _Knowing my Luck that will happen a lot._ '

' _The Boar allows you to summon a gigantic boar to trample everything in its path, as well as granting immense strength and speed. To use it you must be targeting a massive structure and the beast won't go away until it's destroyed its target. And as for your enhancements you can only make use of them in direct charges, no weaving._ '

' _Completely useless, that one is._ _Didn't want to summon that thing at all anyway._ '

' _The Adolescent allows you to grant divine protection to another person, giving them immortality, enhanced abilities, and longevity. However, for this to take effect, you first have to kiss the person in question, then they have to pledge their body and soul to you, and let go of any connections and bonds and live only for you._ '

' _… Not sure how I feel on that one._ '

' _Moving on. The Raptor grants you the speed of a god and makes you, or anything you can pick up, light as a feather. But to use it, you must be attacked by something moving at speed beyond that of human limits, such as a bullet or a charging beast._ '

' _Again, Reinforcement the better option._ '

' _The Ram grants someone you choose the ability to recover from fatal injuries, even death itself. However, it must be activated before the moment of death and can take hours or days to come into effect._ '

Shirou nodded as he dodged a bolt of silver shot at him. ' _That's good. Could deal without the long wait though._ '

' _The Goat gives you total control over lightning, lets you hear people's deepest thoughts, gives you the authority of a high priest, grants you great wisdom and skill with magic, and gives you clairvoyance. However, the Goat will only activate if there are people around you who wish to stand with you and are willing to offer their own life force to power it. You must also act as a stereotypical king to those people during the duration of its activation. And if you use it too much those around you could very well die._ '

' _Never going to use that. Are there any I_ can _use?_ '

' _The last one is the Warrior. Which you've already used once before against Verethragna. It creates countless swords to separate a god from their divinity, making them mortal and able to be killed. You can only use it if you know sufficient information about the god in question._ '

Shirou blinked in thought. ' _We can use that, right?_ '

' _Problem is, to use it against a different deity you have to reactivate it. And there's one_ huge _problem with all of your Authorities. You can use only one at a time and can only use each once every hour._ '

Shirou furrowed his brow in consideration. ' _Is it possible to infuse them into traced swords?_ '

' _I… don't have a clue, to be honest._ '

' _It'd be worth a shot and make them useful and might bypass the one active at a time rule._ '

' _I imagine that will take time though, so let's just focus on using what we can right now._ _The Warrior and the White Stallion can be used against him._ '

' _Wouldn't that last one destroy_ everything _?_ '

' _No. The White Stallion only destroys evil. Somehow, I doubt Erica and her maid or the witch are evil enough for the Stallion to care. That mongrel however… I doubt he just killed Siegfried and Dionysus. He likely wasn't that kind._ '

' _… Bring out the sword._ '

' _You have to pick which goddess' Authority to sever from him first. It can only cut through one._ '

' _Siegfried's. It's the one that's making him nearly invincible._ '

Shirou took a deep breath and then slapped his hands together. "Heed the power of my words, let justice reveal itself, under the strength and eloquence of this incantation, for strength is ever victorious, for strength is the answer to all things!"

"Eh?" Doni muttered.

Shirou then spread his hands as the golden sword appeared in his grasp, light spreading out in all directions as numerous golden swords appeared in the ground.

"Wh – What is th –?" he asked before one of the swords impaled him in the torso. His eyes widened in shock before he laughed. "Do you truly believe this will kill me?"

"No, but it'll separate you from Siegfried. Which will let my other attack end you." ' _Now to ensure he can't move._ ' Placing a hand on the ground, Shirou caused numerous spikes of stone to burst from the ground and impale Doni further, holding him in place.

"… Eh?" the blonde muttered in bewilderment.

"Come to me, for the victory! Immortal Sun, lend me a quick, shining steed. Fire of the Sun that dispels the dark, may it engulf you! White Stallion!"

Lucretia began to sweat in mild concern before glancing at Arianna. "Oh boy… We might want to back away…"

A large, brightly glowing magic circle appeared over Shirou's head from which a horse glowing as bright as the sun emerged.

Doni widened his eyes in disbelief and attempted to move away from the blast, but the numerous gold swords and stone pillars impaling his body kept him sealed in place. "Well… guess there's a first time for everything…" The blonde-haired man was then engulfed in a powerful conflagration, filling the entire area with blinding light.

Erica collapsed as the light died down and her sword seemingly returned to normal.

Arianna sighed in relief before looking ahead at the crater where Shirou's attack landed and saw a smear of blood in the center.

"Wh – Whoa…" Erica gasped in disbelief as Lucretia stood next to her, grinning widely. "H – He… actually did it…"

Lucretia laughed quietly in excitement. "Oh more than that. He killed the little moron."

Erica looked at the witch in shock. "What?! I thought Campiones couldn't die!"

"They can't die of natural causes like age or disease. But they can still be killed by traumatic injury to the heart or brain. And Shirou just vaporized Doni's entire body. So yeah, Doni is as dead as dead can get."

"Done…" Shirou sighed.

* * *

Elsewhere, in a seemingly endless expanse with a sky made of gears and wheels, the ground littered with innumerable weapons, Brunhild stood at the center, looking at several lights flickering in the air. "Good. Got the souls separated and ready to free the ones that should be freed. The drunk, the smith, a –"

"No, I'm staying," a new voice commented.

Brunhilde turned in disbelief. "Sieg!?" she shouted to a tall, well-endowed woman with long, flowing, bright blue hair and red eyes, wearing a black, one-piece outfit with gold accents that was open around her cleavage, exposing most of her prominent bosom, and around her mound, showing her white underclothes, and gold gauntlets on her wrists.

The woman waved to her. "Benny. Been a long time."

"H – How did you…?!"

Sieg just shrugged. "Come out? Felt your presence and came here after that dumbass died."

"I – I see…"

"So… what is this place and why is half of Gram here?" she asked, pointing to a piece of a sword's blade with red markings stuck in the ground at the center of the area.

"This place is Shirou's soul. Why he has a piece of the real Gram in here I don't know."

Sieg raised an eyebrow before looking around. "Pretty roomy in here."

"Indeed."

Seeing a copy of the black and grey sword Doni had used, Sieg frowned and asked, "… Why is there another Balmung in here?"

Brunhilde shrugged with a weak laugh. "Shirou has a habit of copying any weapon he encounters."

Sieg blinked in surprise. "He can do that?"

Nodding, the white-haired beauty added, "Yes. And a blueprint of each weapon he has copied is in here."

Sieg whistled as she looked at the innumerable weapons littering the landscape. "He has encountered quite a few in his life."

"Yes he has. The latest, aside from Balmung, is a weapon belonging to the blond Templar with him."

"Interesting," she remarked as she continued looking around.

* * *

Outside of Shirou's mind, the teen sighed when he felt a shift in his mind. ' _What are you doing?_ '

Brunhilde explained, ' _Nuadha's Authority, that silver arm that turns anything you touch into a sword you can use, would be very useful._ '

' _Ah._ '

' _As will mine,_ ' Sieg commented from within his mind, shocking the teen.

' _… Who are you?_ '

' _I am Siegfried. A very good friend of Benny's._ '

' _… Right…_ '

 **"You okay?"** Kuroka questioned, noticing Shirou's bewildered expression.

"Y – Yeah…" he muttered.

At that moment, two lights then formed in the air in front of Shirou, though one of them shot off into the sky, vanishing.

After another few moments, the third light expanded before taking the shape of a person. When it died down, it revealed a woman with short, chin-length, wild, dark red hair, matching crimson eyes, though one was covered with a black eyepatch, wearing a simple, white, collared shirt which was open at her bustline, exposing a portion of her generous cleavage, elbow-length black gloves, black trousers, and brown boots. "Geez… that was annoying…" the woman groaned.

"Wh – Whoa…"

With a big stretch, she added, "But damn it feels good to be free…" She then noticed Shirou and blinked her uncovered eye in surprise. ' _… Muramasa?_ ' "You the one that killed that jackass?"

"Y – Yes," he answered stiffly. "You are…?"

"I am Hephaestus, goddess of smithing. You?"

"Shirou Emiya."

"I see," she remarked before adding in a quiet, disappointed mumble, "So not Muramasa…"

"What was that?" Shirou asked, tilting his head in confusion.

Hephaestus just waved a hand dismissively. The slightly buxom redhead looked around curiously. "Hm… so where are we now?"

Lucretia answered, "Italy, Lady Hephaestus. Though maybe your Roman name should be used?"

Hephaestus put a hand on her temple and groaned heavily. "Get drunk one time in a foreign country and hear about it for eternity… _Please_ tell me people aren't still worshipping me under the name Vulcan…"

"Okay, I won't," Lucretia answered.

Hephaestus slammed her head against a wall in exasperation. "Fuck me…"

"Um… what's going on?" Shirou wondered in bewilderment.

' _Drunken party in Rome,_ ' Siegfried explained bluntly.

' _Ah._ ' "How about we get going now?"

"In what?" Erica retorted.

"A train."

"Ah…"

Hephaestus raised an intrigued eyebrow. "Hm? Go where?"

Lucretia answered, "Oh, to see the Mage Association."

"What for?"

"They want to see Shirou's abilities for themselves."

Hephaestus flattened her brow and then looked at Shirou incredulously. "He just killed a Campione. That should be enough."

Shirou just shrugged. "Apparently not."

Lucretia put a hand on her chin with a chuckle. "And he hasn't even been one for that long. I'd say… roughly a day."

The beautiful goddess' jaw dropped. "… A _day_? And he beat the Campione who beat me?"

"He didn't really seem all that bright…" Shirou noted solemnly.

Hephaestus folded her arms in annoyance. "He's not, just absurdly powerful and cheated a lot. Since any weapon I make automatically has magical properties he caused any I used against him to go nuts and bite me."

"Good thing Benny's still counts as a goddess when in sword form."

Brunhilde explained, ' _Sacred Gears are slightly different to standard Magical Items._ '

Siegfried, confused, wondered, ' _When did_ you _get stuck in a bauble like those two perverts?_ '

' _Like you have room to talk about perverts._ '

' _It takes one to know one._ '

' _I am_ not _a pervert!_ '

' _And yet you were the one with Karna the most often._ '

Brunhilde hitched in her words. ' _S – So? That doesn't mean anything!_ '

Shirou just sighed.

Lucretia answered, "If we can at least get to the train station we can get there in a couple days."

Shirou nodded in return. "Too bad we can't afford a new car for Arianna to drive us with."

Erica just laughed weakly.

 **"That's probably for the best from the sounds of it,"** Kuroka noted, causing the maid's shoulders to slump heavily.

"Really? That was a bit mean."

Arianna smiled slightly. "I – It's okay… I never learned how to drive a manual."

"… Then why were you driving a manual?"

Erica answered plainly, "Automatics cost too much to rent."

Shirou twitched an eyebrow in annoyance before Hephaestus remarked, "So your deity is a cheapskate."

Lucretia added, "They serve the god of the Christians. I'm sure you've heard of him."

Hephaestus rubbed her nose in frustration. "Oh… that old fool. No wonder they can't afford anything."

"I still have my doubts on Erica being in the church…" Shirou commented.

The blonde in question huffed in retort. "I know I'm not the most devoted follower, but referring to God so rudely is not to my liking."

Hephaestus' jaw fell in shock. "God? He seriously just calls himself _God_ now? Ugh, how conceited can people get? And you people _willingly_ worship him…? Guess it's true that humanity is self-destructive…"

"You're not aware of this?" Lucretia asked in confusion.

"Not about that arrogant bastard, no. I used to live primarily in Vanaheim. Plus, I try to stay out of whatever that fool's doing. I only came back to this realm for a while to see if any new forging methods have been made when that moron blindsided me."

"Explains why someone so weak beat you."

Hephaestus pointed to her eyepatch. "He blindsided me. Meaning he attacked me from my blind spot while I was just enjoying my day. That damned Drunk's Authority is the main reason he won, though."

"Talk about playing dirty…" Shirou groaned.

' _You wouldn't?_ ' Brunhilde chided.

' _Only if the enemy did first._ '

' _So if you were fighting an enemy who endangered your friends and family you wouldn't do everything you could to stop him?_ '

' _I wouldn't start the fight._ '

' _You're dodging the question._ '

' _C'mon Benny, drop it,_ ' Siegfried interjected. ' _It's obvious he isn't above a little dirty dancing, he went and ripped me outta dumbass before whooping his ass, didn't he?_ '

' _Fine,_ ' Brunhilde commented with mild annoyance.

' _Thanks, Sieg,_ ' Shirou offered, though Siegfried did not respond as kindly.

' _I didn't do it to help you, I just don't like to hear Benny complaining. I know you just don't want to admit you wouldn't stay Mr. Nice Guy in a fight._ '

* * *

As the group sat in a tranquil train car, Shirou looked around in confusion. "Um, Hephaestus? I thought gods created problems whenever they were around humans."

"Eh?" the redhead muttered in confusion. "Whoever told you that must've been one of those Christian nutters."

Erica explained, "When a god approaches human settlements, their presence causes problems. A war god will increase violence among the people, a storm god brings with him rains and thunder, a god of love could very well cause adultery, and beyond."

With a snort, Hephaestus retorted, "And of course 'God' _conveniently_ forgets to tell his followers that _only_ happens when gods let their Arcanum run wild."

"Arcanum?"

"Oh for Pete's sake. Didn't your god teach you anything? Arcanum is the Divine power we gods have that surpasses what mortals are capable of. If a god goes around with his power uncontained then of course people will be in trouble. Case in point: the Tragedy of Medea."

"You mean Medea the witch?"

Hephaestus quickly shot Erica a glare. "I'd strongly advise you not to call her a witch."

Shirou added, "I'm going to assume the modern legend is inaccurate. Not surprising. After all, history is full of lies."

Hephaestus glanced at Erica. "I'll let you tell it how you know and then I'll tell you what's wrong."

Erica nodded in response. "Right. Medea was a treacherous princess who joined Jason of the Argonauts and betrayed him at the end of his journey for her own ends."

Hephaestus' jaw dropped. "… Oh dear. Figures Zeus would try and hide the Slut's involvement."

"I'm supposing your version of events is different?"

"It's not a 'version of events'. It's the truth. Aphrodite possessed Medea because the slut took a liking to that dickhead Jason. She used Medea to help Jason achieve his goals, murdering her own family and giving him their Golden Fleece, and even forced Medea to have sex with Jason against her will. Of course, even though Medea was conscious of all of it she was helpless to do anything about it. So it's only natural that, after she regained her freedom, she torched them all."

"That's almost too disturbing to believe…" Arianna muttered horror.

"However, it is the truth. Almost as bad as the Medusa Fiasco or Caeneus' story."

The others sat in silence.

Hephaestus sighed heavily. "… Do I even want to know?"

Lucretia sighed and answered apprehensively. "In most modern retellings of the story, Medusa starts off as a monster and that's it."

Shirou frowned in annoyance. "That's bull. Everyone knows that Poseidon raped her and Athena put a curse on her to protect her from him.

Hephaestus slapped a hand over her face in disbelief. "What is wrong with you humans…?"

"Many things."

Rubbing her temple in exasperation, Hephaestus refuted their supposed knowledge. "Like Shirou said, Medusa was a priestess to Athena. One day she was attacked by Poseidon who horribly raped her in Athena's temple. So Athena granted her the ability to transform into a monster with immense power to defend herself from Poseidon should he choose to come back."

Erica frowned deeply. "And this Caeneus…?"

"A princess that Poseidon abducted and raped before giving her impervious skin as a 'reward'."

Shirou frowned and snapped, "Sounds like Poseidon was a real piece of shit."

' _You say that like I_ haven't _told you this before,_ ' Brunhilde huffed.

' _I hadn't heard the story about Caeneus before. That just cements it._ '

"Then Zeus tried something stupid," Hephaestus added.

 **"Doesn't he always?"** Kuroka remarked.

Lucretia snickered in amusement. "Isn't that the theme of everything?"

Hephaestus answered, "He ordered a Demigod named Perseus to murder Medusa and take her head, and told the Centaurs how Caeneus was the descendant of the man who nearly wiped out their race; who did so _after_ they kidnapped and gangraped almost all of the women in his city. Some man I never met saved Medusa from Perseus."

Shirou and the others listened closely as she continued.

"Caeneus wasn't as lucky. The Centaurs attacked her capital in the midst of a war with another nation, leaving it mostly unguarded. Her city was overrun by the sheer number of Centaurs. She managed to fell many of them, partly due to her impenetrable skin. However, her energy was not limitless and eventually they overpowered her. Before they could do anything to her, though, apparently that same hero showed up and butchered every Centaur there. Which, as I'm sure you can imagine, pissed off Zeus. I never met the man myself, but I heard two consistent details about him: snow white hair and the ability to seemingly conjure an infinite number of swords from nothing."

Shirou furrowed his brow somewhat in thought.

Hephaestus sighed as she rubbed her temple. "Your human legends have quite clearly been butchered in recent millennia."

Lucretia noted, "Well, over time, the legends have become muddled and confused. To be honest, your name doesn't exist much on the lips of mortals anymore. Your deeds and life have fallen under the umbrella of Vulcan. Based on my research the same has happened to several others. For example, Prometheus, Mithras, and Marduk have all been lost into Perseus' legend."

"… Hah…? How did humanity come to think those three are anything like that piece of shit demigod?"

Lucretia merely shrugged. "Humans are stupid."

' _Indeed,_ ' Brunhilde added, though none of them could hear her.

Erica furrowed her brow deep in thought. Noticing this, Kuroka turned to her curiously. **"Macca for your thoughts?"**

Erica sighed before answering, "You talk of Athena rather highly."

"Because she's earned it. She actually has my respect."

"Then that leaves multiple questions. Such as why the church feels it necessary to hold the Gorgoneion."

"The what?"

Lucretia answered, "A type of Grimoire that is reputed to hold the majority of Athena's power sealed within."

"Oh, for fuck's sake what did you people do…? Though I highly doubt the veracity of that claim."

"Sadly, I don't know the details, but for at least two hundred years the church and the Mage's Association have set aside their differences to keep the Gorgoneion as far away from Athena as possible. I imagine that part of why Shirou was called so quickly was to see if he would be worthy to defend it from her."

"What _is_ it and why is it called that? Sounds more like something concerning the Gorgon Sisters than Athena."

* * *

After several more hours, the group finally disembarked the train into Rome.

As Hephaestus looked around the city, following the others, she commented, "This place certainly changed. Which is good."

"Really?" Arianna asked in mild surprise.

Lucretia chuckled derisively. "It hasn't changed that much I assure you."

"Damn…"

Shirou looked around the city in confusion. "So… where are we going? Because I still need to get somethi –" he began as he rounded a corner and bumped into someone, the two toppling to the ground.

Kuroka blinked in surprise as she sat on Lucretia's shoulder. **"… Well that happened. Didn't know he threw himself at women."**

Shirou groaned as he tried to stand up, feeling his right hand on something incredibly round and soft, instinctually squeezing it.

"Xenovia! Are you okay?" shouted another figure, a woman wearing a long, white, hooded robe. "… Eh?" she muttered as she heard her friend moan softly.

Sitting up, Shirou saw the figure on top of him was a young woman with chin-length, wild, blue hair, a single part of her fringe dyed a vibrant green, her bangs ending just above her dark amber eyes, wearing a long, white, hooded robe, the hood also down, and her front open, exposing a skintight, black, leather outfit, though she immediately glared at him.

Shirou's face went pale as a ghost. ' _… Fuck my E-Rank Luck!_ ' Acting swiftly, he stood up and bowed deeply. "I'm sorry, it was an accident!"

The chestnut-haired woman blinked as her friend, Xenovia, stood up with a growl before turning to Erica. "What's a Templar doing here?" Xenovia asked with none-too-subtle venom.

Erica folded her arms with a huff. "I could ask the same, Executioner."

"I asked first."

"Fine. I'm here to provide the Mage's Association an audience with the newest God King."

Shirou frowned in irritation. "Oy, don't call me that. Makes me sound like an asshole."

"Eh?" Xenovia muttered in confusion.

 **"The redhead that just groped you."**

Xenovia frowned in disgust. "Typical."

"It was an accident!" Shirou pleaded. "I try not to grope women on purpose!"

Xenovia just frowned further.

Xenovia's partner chimed in, "I think he's telling the truth. Shirou's never lied, after all."

Shirou blinked in mild confusion. "You are…?"

The woman gasped in shock.

The third person of the group, a girl around fifteen with a moderate chest wearing a dark teal nun outfit with light blue accents with a white veil over her head, a brown satchel on her right hip, and brown boots with green straps in an X-pattern, spoke up. "Miss Irina, your hood."

The woman, Irina, nodded in realization and pulled back her hood, revealing her to be a beautiful young woman with long, knee-length, chestnut brown hair tied in twin-tails with blue scrunchies, her bangs framing her face, with her dark violet eyes, wearing a similar, skintight, black outfit that showed off the shape of her moderate melons.

Shirou's eyes widened in surprise. "Wait, Irina? _That_ Irina…? It's been… seven years, hasn't it…?"

Irina nodded with a bright smile. "Yep!"

Shirou smiled warmly. "It's good to see you again. Though… who is the girl behind you, and why is she cuffed?"

"Asia Argento is a heretical nun," Xenovia explained with venom, causing Asia to look down sadly.

Shirou frowned with suspicion. "How so?"

"She was given a gift from God that can heal any and all physical injuries and ailments. She was able to provide the same healing miracles as the Savior. And she used it on a devil."

"Did she know that person was a devil?"

Hephaestus interjected, "Probably not, but they don't care."

"It doesn't matter," Xenovia argued. "An ability that aids devils in any way cannot be holy and has no place in the church. As a result, we are taking her to be punished."

"So you condemn those that are helpful? Isn't that hypocritical?"

"It's not –" Irina began to argue, though Xenovia cut her off.

"Devils are the enemy of all that is good and pure. Anyone and anything that can aid them is as tainted as they are."

Lucretia sighed in exasperation. "Well she's certainly neck-deep in the religion."

Looking to Asia, Shirou asked, "Tell me, Asia, if I hurt this girl, what would you do?"

The girl went stiff in fear. "Wh – Why would you do that!?"

Irina frowned in desperation. "H – Hey… come on, let's stop fighting…"

"Fine, uncuff her," Shirou demanded.

"H – Huh?" Xenovia stammered in shock.

"Campione have dominion over the church, don't they?"

"Some, yes," Lucretia added.

"I refu – !" Xenovia argued before hearing clacking behind her and saw Irina pulling the cuffs off Asia.

"There, feel better?" Irina asked with a smile, to which the girl nodded before pulling her veil away and bowing to Shirou, revealing her long, waist-length, golden blonde hair that went all the way down her back with split bangs over her forehead and a single cowlick sloping backwards above her bright green eyes.

Shirou frowned before turning to Xenovia with disapproval. "… How can you be so cruel towards a girl like this? She's pure in every way I can see."

Irina began to worry and bowed deeply. "Please forgive her. She is simply devoted to God."

Erica folded her arms with a huff. "At the expense of others' lives and happiness it seems."

"A loss of happiness and freedom in this world is worth eternal life," Xenovia shot back, resulting in Hephaestus rearing her head back with roaring laughter. "What's so funny?"

Hephaestus, trying to pull back her laughter enough to talk, retorted, "You guys _really_ believe 'God' will grant you eternal life?! He'd rather let you all go extinct and create his own!"

Shirou just sighed as Xenovia narrowed her eyes and retorted, "And what gives you the authority to say that?"

"Because I'm a goddess, and I've met Eustoma before, much to my displeasure."

Shirou sighed and decided to break the argument as the three girls stared at the redhead in disbelief. "Let's go… And Asia is under my protection now."

Irina nodded in return. "Then I guess we'll return to the church."

Erica smirked in amusement. "Fancy that. It's where we're going."

Irina widened her eyes before grinning, grabbing Shirou's arm and wrapping it in both of hers. "Yay! Let's go together then!"

Shirou nodded, seemingly unaware of Erica's frown, Xenovia staring in bewilderment.

* * *

"… That's a big castle…" Shirou muttered in surprise as they stepped up to a large cathedral.

"I've seen bigger," Hephaestus interjected flatly. "But it figures that bastard would overcompensate."

Lucretia laughed in amusement. "Well what we're here for are the people inside, not the building itself."

"Right…"

As they entered the building, Shirou saw three people waiting for them, a short, fat, bald man, an old woman with a strange avian mask, and a tall man with long, wild, grey hair.

Lucretia explained, "These are the effective leaders of the Mage's Association. The Old Dame, the Female Wolf, and the Purple Knight."

"Right…" ' _They're very weird_ '

Brunhilde added, ' _The most powerful mages usually are._ '

Old Dame looked over the group in thought. "So, this is supposed to be…" he trailed off as he took note of Hephaestus and paled in horror. "Wh – What is a Rogue God doing here!?"

"The hell's a Rogue God? I certainly don't see one," the redhead wondered.

Lucretia chuckled in amusement before explaining. "A god who has come from the realms of myth crafted by humans into reality."

"… What kind of horseshit are humans thinking of these days…? They've been smoking some powerful stuff it seems."

"Basically, modern humans believe gods only exist because of the myths we make, and that the nature of the god changes with the myth."

Hephaestus frowned in annoyance. "… If that was true Eustoma wouldn't be trying to wipe them out."

Female Wolf snarled and interjected angrily, "You expect us to believe he's a Campione when he won't kill a Rogue God standing right in front of him?"

Shirou narrowed his eyes angrily. "I'm not some mindless murderer. Nor do you make demands of me."

The three stiffened as Shirou's scowl fell on them.

"And if you need more proof, then here. I hereby swear, I deny the existence of things I cannot cut! Ripping Silver Arm!" Shirou's arm immediately became encased in glistening silver.

Purple Knight widened his eyes in shock. "That Authority… it belongs to Lord Salvatore Doni… how do you have it?"

Dispelling the ability, Shirou answered, "He challenged me and threatened my comrade's life. I ended him for that."

"…A – Ah…"

Lucretia smirked and rebutted, "Indeed, he killed Doni and took his Authorities. Hephaestus here was one of them."

Old Dame frowned in total befuddlement. "He… revived a Rogue God? Is he insane?"

"I had to kill a god to become what I am. What do you think?" Shirou taunted.

Erica had to put her hands over her mouth to stifle her laughter as the three elders just stared in disbelief, Kuroka smirking as she sat on Lucretia's shoulder.

"Also, her name is Hephaestus, not Rogue God, so stop calling her that. Understood?"

Erica sighed in exasperation. "Are you going to keep standing here gawking at the goddess or are you going to tell us why we're here?"

"R – Right…" Old Dame muttered in worry.

Purple Knight sighed and tried to break the tension. "We brought you here to see how valid the claims of his being a King are."

"As you can see, I am," Shirou answered bluntly. "Though, if that _was_ the point, why was I intercepted by Doni on my way here?"

"He was likely acting on his own," Female Wolf remarked.

"I highly doubt it. After all, he'd have to know a new Campione was born and what they looked like. Otherwise he'd attack people randomly." He narrowed his eyes as he slowly looked over the trio of elders before sneering in disgust. "Let me guess, you expected that I, as a new Campione, would lose to Doni, so that he could come back and report to you on my abilities and limitations. Then you would use that to determine how to act to me. And now that I've messed up your plans, you're all just seething, letting your fear of me prevent you from acting out."

Erica looked at him with wide eyes of surprise. ' _Was he always this perceptive!?_ '

Lucretia just smirked. ' _Seems I picked a good one._ '

Irina smiled subtly. ' _… As smart as always…_ '

The three elders stood silent, dumbstruck.

"As I thought," he noted coldly. "So, anything else?"

Female Wolf was the first to speak up after a long pause. "… We were potentially hoping to see a demonstration of your Authority."

"Too bad. The only one that could force me to use any of them is here to resume her vacation that fool interrupted by killing her. And I'm not about to attack her to satisfy your curiosity. Or is it about the Gorgon Grimoire?"

The three instantly began to sweat.

"H – How do you… know about that…?" Old Dame asked in disbelief.

Motioning to Lucretia, Shirou explained, "My mage friend here gave me a list of possible reasons you could have for asking me to come here. With the recent departing of Italy's Campione it seemed like the only substantive one. So, is it about the Gorgoneion?"

Female Wolf sighed heavily before answering. "… Yes. We have heard rumblings about Athena's presence in Italy, and wanted to find a suitable courier to keep it from her."

"You mean someone to take it out of Italy so she doesn't destroy all of you."

"That is not our concern," Purple Knight huffed.

Old Dame added, "There is an ancient prophecy that, should Athena regain the Gorgoneion and her power sealed within it, that the sky would turn blacker than night, and the world would be torn asunder."

"I see…" ' _Ancient prophecies tend to be self-fulfilling bullshit._ '

' _That they do,_ ' Siegfried noted.

Brunhilde urged, ' _I'd say take it. Maybe we can talk to Athena and see what's_ actually _going on with all this._ '

' _Right,_ ' he answered in his mind before looking at the elders. "Fine. I'll take it. But I get to decide what to do with it after that. And one last word of warning. To all of you. If any of you try anything on my family, I'll make you beg for death. As long as you don't do that, we won't have any problems."

Irina blinked in surprise. ' _… He's really getting into character._ '

An overly sweet smile reminiscent of his mother forming on his face, Shirou asked, "Understood?"

The three elders felt powerful shivers down their spines as they nodded firmly.

"Good to see we've come to an agreement."

* * *

Shirou sighed heavily in relief as they exited the cathedral. "That was exhausting…"

"At least we have the Gorgoneion," Erica noted.

"Yeah… crap!"

"What?" Erica questioned, surprised by his outburst.

"I forgot to get a souvenir for Illya and chocolates for Liz!"

Xenovia looked at him in disbelief, Irina just giggling. After a sigh, the blue-haired girl turned to her partner. "We need to return to the church and give a report, Irina."

Irina pouted in disappointment. "… Okay…" Waving with a smile, she turned and followed Xenovia. "Bye Shirou, bye Asia!"

Shirou nodded with his own wave. "See you. And be sure to tell the Church that if they leave me and mine alone I'll do the same."

Irina nodded as she walked beside to Xenovia, the duo raising their hoods.

After they left, Shirou sighed before looking to the clouds as if for inspiration. "Now to find some shops…"

Pointing down a road, Asia remarked, "There are some good little shops that way."

Shirou looked at her surprised, Erica asking, "Really? How do you know?"

"Whenever Miss Xenovia was out on other, smaller missions or was asleep, Miss Irina took me around."

Shirou smiled warmly. "Good to know you and Irina are friends. Sorry you had to deal with Xenovia though."

Asia pouted slightly before shaking her head. "Miss Xenovia isn't a bad person."

"Huh? Could've fooled me."

With a frown, Asia explained, "Miss Xenovia is a very devoted follower of God. Every night I saw her praying that He would forgive me."

Shirou furrowed his brow in thought. ' _I see. That makes sense. She was probably conflicted about having to imprison and punish Asia and just wanted to get it over with quickly so she could forget about it. That's some extremely deep devotion to their god._ '

"Mister Shirou?" Asia asked, seeing his expression.

"Hm?"

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Now let's go shopping."

Brunhilde then remarked, ' _You know, if we're going to take her with us, shouldn't we get Asia new clothes?_ '

"And get you some new clothes too."

Asia looked at him in shock. "H – Huh?"

"You heard me. We're getting you some new clothes."

"Wh – Why? You've already done so much for me…"

"Why shouldn't I? You're my responsibility now and I plan to care for you."

Asia's eyes went wide as her face turned red. After a short pause she nodded slowly.

"Then let's get you something new."

* * *

After walking around the streets for a time, Irina and Xenovia rejoined the group, Xenovia visibly uncomfortable.

"Hey Irina, how are you?" Shirou questioned with a smile.

"Wonderful now!" she cheered.

"Okay…?"

"We'll be coming with you!"

Shirou looked at her in dumbfounded shock. "… What?"

Xenovia frowned slightly and explained timidly, "… Th – The church has ordered us to accompany the Seventh Campione…"

Shirou's jaw almost hit the floor. ' _… My Luck is screwing with me…_ ' "… Why…?"

Nodding, Irina explained, "To keep the loyalty of the Campione to the church, at least one, sometimes more, exorcists are assigned to serve and help them. As part of that service, we end our pledge to God and instead pledge our lives to the Campione."

Shirou frowned in annoyed confusion. "… Ah…" Accepting her response, he turned his attention to the fidgeting Xenovia. "So what's with your friend?"

Stiffening, Xenovia sighed before looking at Shirou. "I want to apologize…"

The teen narrowed his eyes in thought. "To me? Or Asia?"

The blue-haired woman stiffened slightly.

Smiling, Asia preemptively answered, "You don't have to apologize for anything Ms. Xenovia."

"Huh?"

"I knew you only did it because of your devotion to God."

Xenovia's amber eyes went wide in shock.

Brunhilde groaned in disgust. ' _Urgh… hearing them talk so highly about that doofus makes me ill._ '

' _Agreed…_ ' Siegfried grumbled, ' _feels like I'm gonna hu –_ ' she stopped when she did just that.

' _Not on me!_ '

Shirou pinched the bridge of his nose as he tried to tune the two out when Irina put her arms over Xenovia and Asia's shoulders with a smile. "So, we can all he friends now, right?"

Shirou merely nodded in return.

Xenovia sighed in relief.

"If Asia's fine with it, so am I. Though I hope you won't be doing such things to her again."

Xenovia nodded firmly before bowing deeply. "I swear I won't."

Shirou furrowed his brow before grumbling. ' _… I completely misread her. It's not that she has devotion specifically to their god… but she has a deep-seated need to follow_ something _. God was just the most convenient… I feel so ashamed…_ '

Brunhilde hummed in thought. ' _That actually kind of reminds me of your family friend Maiya in a way._ '

' _Really?_ '

' _Of course._ '

Shirou frowned in thought. ' _Maiya never really came across that way…_ '

' _… Have you forgotten her reaction to the news Kiritsugu died?_ ' Brunhilde asked in disbelief. After an extended silence from Shirou, she sighed in annoyance. ' _You did, didn't you?_ '

' _I tried to… I didn't like seeing Maiya like that…_ '

Brunhilde grumbled, Shirou could almost feel her rubbing her temples before he noticed Asia looking at him in concerned confusion. Patting her head, he eased, "Nothing for you to worry over Asia. Now let's get you and your friends some clothes."

* * *

Shirou sweat heavily as he looked around uncomfortably, sitting inside a women's clothing store. "… Did they… really need to drag me in here…?"

' _Quit complaining,_ ' Siegfried chided. ' _Don't you wash your family's laundry?_ '

' _No! Our maids do that. I wouldn't mind, but even then, they're family, that's different than…_ this _!_ '

' _You_ are _adopted, remember?_ ' Brunhilde remarked, at which Shirou just sat silently.

"Shirou?" Irina questioned, noticing his expression.

Shirou flinched immediately and turned in her direction. He gaped slightly as he saw her dressed in a long-sleeved, bright pink sweater dress, that just barely passed her hips, thigh-high pink stockings, and Shirou could also see the thin straps of her violet bra poking up over the sweater as it hung low on her shoulders. "Wh – Whoa…"

Irina noticed his gasp and smiled. "Like it, Shirou?"

"You look beautiful…"

Irina's smiled widened excitedly.

* * *

 **And cut! There you have it, the second chapter. Hopefully you enjoyed it, be sure to review if you did. If you are unsure, confused, or just have questions on anything, let me know in a review and I will do what I can to address your concerns in the next chapter's reviewer responses. If your confusion rests around certain characters, name them and I will explain what I can, as a list of characters in each chapter would take up _far_ too much space. And if your questions involve anything spoiler related, a PM would serve you better than a review, as I try to keep spoilers out of reviewer responses. That said, I have nothing else to add, so until next time, bye-bye!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter III**

 **And so I come with the next story to be updated! Hopefully the wait was not too rough. And if it was, here is to the chapter making up for it. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed the previous chapter; at least some of you did it seems. Anyway, not much to ramble about here, so on with the reviewer responses.**

 **Dantrlan: Do you actually have anything to say or are you just farting into the wind? Oh, just blustering? Right, then move along.**

 **Htler28: Most of my stories are a "mess" by someone's standard or another. So if you have suggestions for improvement I'm all ears.**

 **Nihatclodra: DanMachi isn't actually in the story, I'm just using its deities to replace some of the ones from the other stories. The world and non-gods of DM will never appear. So don't get your panties in a wad. Set up things first, then explain them. It's called En Medias Res.**

 **Kayen1024: No, Issei is not in the story.**

 **Oh it's certain to be a thing of beauty.**

 **Orumon: I know, and Shirou will be doing what he can to fix that in her.**

 **Travis Moon: Long review? My dude, I have seen reviews four times that length, so don't fret over it. And I understand. I hate canonical, Fate/Stay Night Shirou as well. Despise the little moron. That's why the Shirou I'm using is a cross between the two from Fate/Kaleid.**

 **piddle: Was it really that subtle?**

 **dragonfighter11: That's how a lot of my remakes start out. Same set up with things branching out from there.**

 **Guest: Made? He seemed like a massive douche in canon anyway. I don't think I really changed anything.**

 **Guest: You're talking about FSN Shirou.**

 **Guest: Him being alive locks off several girls, among other things. She ruined a lot of things in him.**

 **ulttoanova: I can promise you she will be.**

 **Eher: Glad to hear it.**

 **treyalexander63917: Yes, but it's going to slow down pretty quickly once the two get out of their obsession with Him.**

 **Shashenka: No, I am using only the properties of its alchemy, nothing else.**

 **Not Signed In: That might be a little too often to check, LOL, and I generally try to aim for a semi-original storyline.**

 **Guest Q: Yes. There's nothing else from that series, but yes, he was.**

 **Indeed they are.**

 **Dragonslayer0110: Yes.**

 **A Guest: Nope. Not him.**

 **KRP: I've revealed three, but more are coming.**

 **correnhimself316: Yeah, Eustoma's not the greatest of role models.**

 **DALucifer13: Um... purple?**

 **HungrySnack: There is never a reason _not_ to add DxD.**

 **Dante Fernandez: The character model is Siegfried from Eiyuu Senki.**

 **PanickingNoob94: Maybe, but even if you read the original Campione, this all goes by pretty quickly too. Not an excuse, just saying. As for those two, yeah, they'll butt heads for a while. From what I recall of the LN, yeah, Doni was a major douche. Look up Hephaestus from Is it Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon. I'm fairly certain that's a woman.**

 **Reishin Amara: Indeed she will.**

 **Trasgo Madaraz Artifex: I see. Well not everything will be included unaltered.**

 **The Indominator: If you have suggestions, go right ahead.**

 **Bravemaridin: Not a popular opinion, it seems.**

 **ultima-owner: That he does.**

 **Blade1986: A very nice summary. More insanity, that much I can promise.**

 **Servant Ruler: Well at least it keeps you on your toes.**

 **edboy4926: It will take some doing, but they'll get what they deserve.**

 **hnh058513: More than likely.**

 **Neither.**

 **It's certainly possible.**

 **Lord Naruto: I know, but I like using Eustoma more.**

 **Only if you think it exists.**

 **superpierce: I might take a look at it, but I don't read FanFiction much anymore, just write it. And yeah, FSN Shirou was a pain.**

 **Look up Siegfried from Eiyuu Senki.**

 **enigma95: Seems pretty consistent from what I remember. He always seemed like an asshole.**

 **I know.**

 **Templars are a division of the Catholic Church.**

 **Well hopefully you like how it goes from here.**

 **mx2432: I see. Interesting. Never seen it mentioned anywhere in any canon, but I like it, so I used it. Nope.**

 **Umodin: That's how they usually start with my remakes.**

 **Lord Apeiron: Noted. Doesn't seem rushed to me, but I'll see what I can do. Not sure what I can do about "clunky" dialogue, since it seems fine to me.**

 **Archleone: No. If someone pisses Shirou off (And to be clear, that doesn't mean just being rude to him. It'll have to be attacking someone he loves) and he doesn't see a compelling reason to let them escape, they're as good as dead unless he's not strong enough to kill them.**

 **I'd like to think that's the case with him anyway, though some people aren't as keen on that.**

 **As I told someone else, yes, alchemy from FMA. But that is all, no characters, story, items, or events from that series will be featured. Don't worry, there'll be that eventually, I just want to get some things established first.**

 **Actually, I'd argue it is the best analogy in this situation, with the idea you were trying to convey.**

 **And that finishes that! Phew, a big one! On with the show!**

* * *

Irina noticed his gasp and smiled. "Like it, Shirou?"

"You look beautiful…"

Irina's smiled widened excitedly.

"Why do I have to be part of this?" Xenovia questioned as she stepped out of one of the stalls, now wearing a sleeveless black top, though it was slightly translucent, causing her thin black bra underneath to be easily seen, extremely small jean shorts, which hung so low her panties were slightly visible, and knee-high black boots.

Shirou stiffened as his face turned bright red.

Irina, seemingly unfazed, answered, "Don't you want to look good too?"

Xenovia huffed as she folded her arms under her bosom.

Shirou winced and turned his head away with a hand over his nose.

Pointing to him, Xenovia noted, "See? He's disgusted by this outfit."

Lucretia snickered in amusement. "Oh I assure you that's not the case. He's more than likely thinking how quickly he can get you alone with him now."

"I – I am not!" Shirou exclaimed, Xenovia staring incredulously.

' _Yes, you are,'_ Sieg and Brunhilde commented in unison.

' _Shut it!_ '

Kuroka, sitting on Lucretia's shoulders, back in her feline form, remarked "Hey, Blue, you should probably know something."

"What?" Xenovia replied.

"Your shirt's see-through."

Xenovia blinked in confusion before looking down at herself. "Is that a problem?"

"Yes!" Shirou shouted.

"Just wanted to make sure you knew. And no, just gets him hard."

"You! Quiet!"

"Why?"

The teen then took notice of Lucretia's extremely form-fitting, bright green dress, held up by a the thinnest of halter straps, just barely hiding her bulging cleavage, causing him to gulp uncomfortably.

"Something wrong?" Lucretia asked with a snicker, noticing his lost expression.

However, his attention was taken away when Hephaestus stepped out of the changing room with Asia, the blonde now wearing a simple white dress with thin shoulder straps, black, thigh-high stockings, and a blue sweater jacket.

Shirou smiled and remarked, "Well you looked adorable, Asia," causing the blonde to blush with embarrassment. "Huh? Hephaestus, aren't you going to get something?"

The redhead merely shrugged. "I can change my clothing at will, plus what I have on is what I like."

"Right, then."

"I – Is it really cute…?" Asia asked timidly.

"Of course it is, it's absolutely adorable," he answered, causing her to smile with elation.

"So what now?" Lucretia suddenly asked.

Shirou turned to her in consternation. "Huh? What do you mean?"

"Well you've defeated Doni and you've proven that you're a Campione to the Elders. What do you want to do now?"

"Well I –"

"Will be returning home," a new, even-toned voice remarked.

Shirou turned in slight terror to see a tall woman with dark, even-cut, chin-length black hair, dark grey eyes, and a moderate bust wearing an all-black suit approaching him. "M – Maiya!?"

Lucretia looked at the woman curiously. "Oh? You know this one?"

"Sh – She used to work for my dad."

"Interesting."

"A – Anyway why a –?"

Maiya interrupted him, "Your mother sent me when she heard a god attacked."

Shirou frowned in mild annoyance. "… Right… anyway, got Illya's gift and Liz's chocolates."

Maiya nodded in approval. "Good. Now let's go, and bring your brood mothers with you."

Xenovia glared as Irina turned bright red, both shouting, "Brood mothers?!"

"Yes," she replied plainly.

Shirou sighed heavily. "… Please ignore her," he groaned, the two just staring at him silently.

Lucretia folded her arms under her voluptuous chest with a smirk. "Oh? Don't want us to produce your heirs?"

Twitching an eyebrow, Shirou retorted, "How the heck am I supposed to respond to that?!"

' _Honestly,_ ' Siegfried urged, to which Shirou responded immediately.

' _Honesty would not be beneficial right now!_ '

' _Oh? How so?_ '

"Are you leaving…?" Asia asked with a somber frown as she grabbed his sleeve.

Shirou frowned slightly before turning it into a smile. "Yeah, but –"

Again, Maiya interrupted, "All of you are going as well."

Kuroka, sitting upon Lucretia's shoulder, waved her tail with interest.

"Lady Irisviel was most insistent I bring you and any girls you are with back after all."

Shirou looked at her with a flat expression. "… Why did she just assume there would be any…?"

"Because you are you."

He just stared as Brunhilde commented, ' _Sounds about right._ '

"And Lady Irisviel wants to meet the bearers of her future grandchildren."

Xenovia's eyebrow twitched furiously as Irina's face turned a fluorescent shade of red. "Grandchildren!?" they both shrieked.

Shirou just groaned heavily, whilst Lucretia noted, "Sounds interesting."

* * *

Several hours later, as the group boarded the plane, Shirou sighed heavily. ' _And I thought this would just be a simple trip…_ '

' _Your Luck should have told you otherwise,_ ' Brunhilde chided.

' _I was hoping…_ '

' _That was a mistake._ '

"So… what is Japan like?" Erica asked as they walked, pulling Shirou from his internal dialogue.

"H – Huh?"

As they sat down, she reiterated, "Your country. What's it like?"

Shirou leaned his head back and folded his arms in thought. "I've… never really thought about it, honestly. I wouldn't really know how to describe it to someone who's never been there."

"I could try," Irina chimed in.

"Really?"

"Well it has been some years since I've been there, but I can give it a shot. Hm… I guess, it's really pretty. There are a lot of buildings, and it can get kinda stuffy in the summer, but everything around is so pretty to look at. The food's good too."

"The food?" Erica asked, Shirou immediately noticing her perk up.

"Yep!" Irina chirped with a nod and a smile.

"I see…" Erica responded, seemingly trying, and failing, to hide her excitement.

Xenovia and Shirou both stared in disbelief.

"Preparing to fatten yourselves up to prepare for his children?" Maiya questioned.

The girls just stared at her with varying expressions of discontent.

"What?"

Shirou groaned heavily. "Stop trying to force them…"

"But Iri –"

"Is baby crazy. Nothing more."

"I see." She then held up a leash tied to a very annoyed Hephaestus. "Even the fertile Goddess?"

"WHAT THE HELL!?"

"What?"

"Why do you have her on a leash?!"

"To make sure she doesn't escape."

"She's a goddess, not a damned dog!"

The two just stared at each other frustration as the redhead sighed heavily.

* * *

Sometime later, Shirou sighed as he and the others approached his house. "This is going to be an interesting return…"

"Oh?" Erica asked, intrigued.

Turning to the others, Shirou urged, "Maiya and I will go in first and try to explain everything. If all of you enter at once it could cause problems."

Lucretia frowned in disappointment as Irina, pouting, replied, "Right…"

Shirou then walked through the front gate with Maiya before calling out, "Mom I'm home."

Like a bullet, Illya rushed out of the house and leapt at Shirou, tackling him with a heavy hug. "Big Brother!"

Shirou grunted and stumbled back to try and make sure he did not fall.

"You're back, you're back!" she cheered repeatedly.

"H – Hey, get down, you could get hurt if I fall," he retorted. He then saw Liz standing in the doorway nearby. "… Liz, if you help me you'll get your chocolates."

With unprecedented speed, Liz was immediately there and grabbed Illya off of Shirou. "Aw…"

"Thanks," Shirou offered, patting Liz's head.

"But I wanted to hug him so much!"

Shirou was almost disturbed by her level of excitement. Deciding to shift focus, he turned to Liz. "… Where's Mom?"

Liz, almost rudely, answered, "Not sure. Chocolates."

Shirou chuckled lightly and pulled a chocolate from his bag, and noticed Liz's gaze following it. At that moment he got an idea. He pinched the piece of chocolate between two of his fingers and raised his arm.

Liz perked up in response and dropped Illya, focusing on the sweets.

After a lengthy pause, Shirou flicked the piece out, Liz hopping forward to catch it in her mouth, with Shirou immediately flicking another; which Liz swiftly and easily caught as well. He kept flicking more and more to her until she got right next to him, at which point he held a piece in his hand, which Liz, still with her mouth, grabbed swiftly.

Shirou chuckled in amusement and patted her head gently.

Sella, meanwhile, stared in confused disbelief. "It's like taming a dragon…"

Still petting Liz, Shirou turned his attention to Sella. "Can you find Mom? Maiya and I need to explain the situation to her."

Sella frowned uncertainly but nodded. "Sure…"

* * *

Shirou brought everyone into the house and explained, mostly, how he met them. Though he kept certain details scant due to Illya's presence.

Iri put a hand on her chin in thought. "Hmm? So these are the girls you picked up from Italy?"

Puffing her cheeks suspiciously, Illya retorted, "I told you Big Brother would."

Siegfried could not hide her laughter at that. ' _Ouch, even the kid knows you're a lady killer._ '

Shirou, annoyed, rebuffed, ' _I don't kill people!_ '

Siegfried gaped in shock. ' _… Is he always this dense?_ '

Brunhilde answered her with a sigh. ' _Yes. Yes he is._ '

Shirou twitched an eyebrow, before being drawn from his internal dialogue by Iri.

"So? Introduce me."

Nodding, he proceeded. "Right. I am sure you remember Irina."

Iri blinked curiously as Shirou motioned to Irina before her eyes began to sparkle. "Oh? Oh! My, my, you've grown to be so beautiful, Irina! You're a beautiful daughter-in-law!"

Irina began fidgeting in her seat with a bright red face. "D – Daughter-in-law?!"

"Yep!" Iri chirped with a small clap, Irina giggling incoherently as Xenovia sighed in exasperation.

Motioning to the blue-haired woman, Shirou introduced her as well. "Her friend Xenovia."

"Oooh. Blue-haired future grandbabies from this daughter-in-law."

Xenovia frowned slightly, Kuroka's tail swishing about, amused.

Iri then turned and saw Lucretia, a small frown creeping onto her delicate features. "I see you brought Zola with you."

Lucretia just smirked confidently in return. "Oh? Don't want a cougar daughter-in-Law?"

"No, I just remember hearing stories from Kiri about you."

"Oh? I hope they were good."

With as pleasant a smile and voice as usual, Iri responded bluntly, "They weren't."

"Oh?" Lucretia asked with a growing smirk.

Shirou looked between the two in concern. "U – Uh-oh…"

' _What Uh-Oh?_ ' Siegfried asked, confused.

' _If we don't do something these two might come to blows…_ '

"So, tell me, what are your intentions with my son?" Iri questioned, continuing the conversation.

With a wide, sly smirk, Lucretia answered, "To train and educate him in the pleasures of a woman and make sure he's drained dry every day."

Iri clapped her hands together with a smile. "I can approve of that."

Shirou was tempted to slam his face into a wall. "Are you kidding me!?"

' _They seem to be getting along just fine to me._ '

"Is something wrong, Dear?" Erica asked in bewilderment.

"I am not," Iri answered with a sudden sober expression.

Shirou just stared in disbelief before Hephaestus questioned out loud, "So, can I go home yet?"

"No," Maiya answered bluntly, annoying the goddess.

Looking to the redhead, Iri questioned, "So who's the red-haired daughter-in-law?"

"Makunosai," Maiya answered immediately.

Hephaestus twitched an eyebrow irritably, feeling an urge to strangle the black-haired woman.

Iri merely nodded in understanding before turning her attention to the blonde in the group.

Putting a hand on her chest confidently, she introduced herself. "I am Erica. Erica Blandelli."

"And the maid daughter-in-law?"

Bowing formally, Arianna answered, "Arianna Hayama Araldi."

Iri nodded in approval as she looked around the room before smiling with anticipation. "I see. So when can I expect a grandbaby making orgy?"

Shirou slapped a hand over his face in disbelieved annoyance.

"Not sure yet," Lucretia retorted.

"Kill me…" the teen lamented.

Xenovia rebuffed, "We couldn't even if we wanted to."

Shirou just stared quietly. "… I don't know how I feel about that."

Iri, smirking in amusement, added, "Quite an addition to the harem."

Shirou groaned before beginning to argue, only to decide it was not worth the effort. "There is no – oh forget it… I'm going to bed…"

Illya looked at him in shock. "H – Huh?! But you just got home!"

"Jet lag," he retorted bluntly.

"Okay…" Illya pouted as he left.

"Goodnight."

* * *

In his room, Shirou flopped onto his bed heavily. "God I'm tired… and can sleep like a log…"

* * *

The following morning, Shirou awoke with a groan, feeling a large amount of heat around him and a rather light amount of weight atop him. ' _Can't… move…_ ' Opening his eyes weakly, he saw Liz on his left, hugging his arm tightly between her mounds, Irina wrapped around his right arm in the same way, and Illya sleeping peacefully on top of him. ' _… Craaap!_ ' Hearing an all-too familiar snapping sound, he slowly looked up in horror and saw Iri holding a camera with a smirk. ' _… Oh no…_ '

Snickering to herself as she approached, Iri noted, "I'll pick up Illya so you can start making babies."

Shirou paled in further worry. ' _… Brunhilde, do something!_ '

His only answer was Brunhilde moaning sleepily. ' _S – Sieg stop!_ '

' _… Shit! Can this get any worse?!_ '

His question was answered by a loud knock at the house's front door. "Senpai?! Are you home?" a demure voice called out.

Shirou's face went completely pale. ' _FUCK YOU E-RANK LUCK!_ '

"Senpai…?" she called out again, this time with worry.

' _… Why…? Why is Sakura here!?_ '

* * *

He eventually managed to wriggle himself out of the girls' embrace and to the door, Sakura, an attractive young woman with elbow-length violet hair with one bang hanging down longer than the rest on the right side, stopping just above her slightly above average bust-line, a red ribbon tied in the left side of her hair, fair skin, and pupil-less, violet eyes, wearing a white, black, and red school uniform with a shawl and thigh-high stockings, came in, rather abruptly, and swiftly saw the rather large gathering of people in his house. Her face flushed red, she began to stutter and stammer in bewilderment.

"C – Calm down Sakura," Shirou eased, trying to stop her from having a heart attack.

"Th – There's so many girls… where'd they all come from… why are they at your house…?! Are you stashing chicks!?"

"Where the hell'd _that_ come from?!" Shaking his head of the weird verbiage, he answered heavily, "Italy was a lot crazier than expected…"

"I – I see…" she answered slowly before sitting down.

Iri, smiling as pleasantly as ever, added, "They are all his future wives, like you."

"R – Really?" she asked, seemingly unfazed by the remark.

Turning to Sakura in concern, Shirou argued, "Don't listen to her rambling nonsense!" seemingly unaware of her disappointment.

Iri argued once more, But it's not. All you girls are my daughters-in-law. And Sakura, if you want first babies, take him now."

Sakura immediately began to turn an even brighter shade of pink at that comment.

"Please stop…" Shirou begged, the embarrassment threatening to eat him alive.

Lucretia looked Sakura up and down in thought before turning to Shirou. "Hmm… Your first?"

Shirou's face turned an even brighter red. "Wh – What?! No!"

Lucretia's curiosity turned to concern. "I see…"

Sakura's face also contorted in worry.

Shirou stood up with a hurried, uncomfortable laugh. "Right! I need to go to school! Let's go Sakura!"

Sakura just nodded in confusion as he hurried her to the door.

Iri suddenly perked up in realization. "Oh! That reminds me. Someone came to see you the other day." With a sly smirk, she added, "A girl, too."

Shirou turned to her slowly, concerned but listening. "… Oh…?"

Nodding, Iri continued. "She said she was the student council president."

Blinking curiously, Shirou raised an eyebrow. "President Shitori?"

"Ah, yes. Her."

"She say why?"

Iri shook her head in denial. "No. She just asked if you were here and left." Iri's sly smirk then turned completely lewd. "Moving up in the world quite swiftly."

Shirou just hung his head in shame. "… Please stop trying to hook me up with every girl you see…"

"But I must!" Iri answered proudly with a determined fist.

Shirou just groaned as he hurried out the door with Sakura.

* * *

Eventually, they arrived at school, going their separate ways before the gate.

With a concerned sigh, Shirou ran through his mind. ' _I wonder what Shitori wants… Best go see._ '

"Emiya," an even-toned voice called out.

Turning in surprise, Shirou saw a young, curvy woman with long black hair down to her waist, with two long bangs hanging over her generous bust, a violet left eye and light brown right eye behind half-frame, square glasses, wearing the same uniform as Sakura, though without the shawl. "Huh?" ' _That's Tsubaki Shinra, the Student Council Vice-President, right?_ '

Brunhilde answered in affirmation. ' _Yes it is._ '

"Vice-President Shinra?"

' _She's also a devil._ '

' _You mentioned that once._ '

"Sona would like to meet with you," Tsubaki explained firmly.

Shirou nodded in understanding. "That's what my mom said, and I was already on my way there to meet said devil."

Tsubaki narrowed her eyes suspiciously but motioned to the main school building. "This way."

* * *

Shirou followed her through the long hallways, up all the way to the fifth and top floor, where, in the middle of the hallway against the front of the building, stood the Student Council Room.

Waiting inside was Sona, a young woman around Shirou's age with short black hair in a bob cut, violet eyes, a slim figure, and wearing the female Kuoh uniform, a black mantle with white trim added on top, along with rounded, violet-colored spectacles. "I want you to join the Student Council."

Shirou narrowed his eyes in thought. "Oh? Why?" ' _I highly doubt she has any interest in me personally. Just my power._ '

"I want you for your mind."

That answer caught him a little off guard. "… Eh?"

"You heard me."

"Right…"

Adjusting her glasses, Sona continued. "Yes. You have amazing insight on people, and an intuitive mind that would be an invaluable asset to the Student Council."

"A – Ah. Thanks. I think. Though if I join I won't become part of your Peerage, President Shitori."

Sona frowned in slight frustration before fixing her expression. "I see. Disappointing."

Shirou just shrugged with a smile. "Sorry to disappoint you."

A more playful glint filling her eyes, Sona changed the topic. "Though I have heard an interesting rumor I'd like you to verify."

Shirou's expression soured with suspicion. "Oh…? Does it have to deal with my trip to Italy?"

Sona merely nodded. "That it does. So, is it true? Are you now a Demon King?"

Deciding deception was inadvisable, Shirou merely shrugged and told the truth. "Yes. It is. I killed Verethragna and have his Authorities. I also killed a Campione that attacked me for no reason except for 'fun' and gained two of his while releasing the rest."

Sona's smirk widened. "My, my, very intriguing."

Shirou huffed derisively. "I guess. I just blame my E-Rank Luck."

That remark got Sona's confidence switched to surprise. "E-Rank is hardly what I'd call that."

Shrugging, he added, "That's the lowest scoring though."

With an amused chuckle, she retorted, "I guess we have different perspectives then."

"Guess so."

With a hefty sigh, Sona returned the subject to its original place. "That said, adding you to my Peerage, even if I were to try and force you, is now impossible. So, I instead propose a different arrangement."

"Oh?"

"A mutually beneficial partnership. You give me something I want, and in return I provide you with something you want."

"And what can you provide me?" Shirou rebuffed as he folded his arms.

"Let me tell you my end of the bargain, and then we can go from there."

"Sounds fair."

"I'll skip the pleasantries and come out with it. I have goals to change the political system of the Underworld, and having a Demon King at my back would make my goals far easier to achieve."

"And those are?"

"Currently, in the Underworld, there are only two ways to become a High-Class Devil, the effective ruling class of our society. And that is to be born into an existing High-Class family or to be a member of a High-Class Devil's Peerage and prove yourself worthy of becoming a High-Class Devil yourself. As I'm sure you can see, this leaves very little room for social mobility."

Shirou nodded in comprehension. "And you wish to use my influence to help setup a system to increase the rate of social mobility."

"Yes. My biggest problem is education. Only pure-blood High-Class devils receive a proper education. So I plan to establish a school for all devils to attend. The first step to social mobility is education."

"True," he answered with a nod.

With a small sigh, Sona returned, "So, what do you consider appropriate for your end?"

Shirou put a hand on his chin in thought. "Hm… an alliance with your family."

She raised an intrigued eyebrow. "How so?"

"Allies in combat and you helping me gain influence in Devil Politics."

She nodded with a curt smile. "I can agree to that. And frankly, I'd wager I'm one of the best for that kind of deal, not to brag."

"Oh?"

"My… eccentric, elder sister is one of the four rulers of the Underworld. She herself is completely useless but it gives our family friends in high places."

"Serafall?"

Sona nodded, rather surprised. "Yes, her."

"Ah. Heard about her from Mom."

"Your mother?"

"Irisviel von Einzbern Emiya."

Sona's eyes widened subtly in surprise, though she quickly contained her reaction. "My, quite the parentage you have."

He just shrugged in response. "We're not blood related, so I didn't inherit anything like that from her. Merely adopted for as long as I remember."

"Interesting."

"Maybe."

"That said…" Sona then reached a hand out to him.

"Huh?" he muttered.

"To seal the contract."

"Right…" he answered apprehensively before grabbing her hand, shaking the girl's soft hand.

Sona nodded with a small smile. "There, that seals the contract. I look forward to working with you, Shirou Emiya."

Shirou returned with a nod. "Same to you. Sona Shitori."

Blinking in thought, Sona spoke up once more. "About that. My name is actually Sona Sitri."

"Noted," he replied with a nod. "But I'll call you Shitori still to keep it a secret. Wouldn't want anyone unlearned to learn your Devil name."

Sona just smirked as he turned and left.

"So goodbye for now," he added as he left.

* * *

Shirou sighed as he walked towards his classroom before hearing a voice call out to him. Turning, he saw a teenage girl with wavy brown hair that extended just past her shoulders, medium-length bangs hanging down over her forehead, just above her amethyst eyes, clad in the female uniform, and round, frameless glasses, running up to them, her large bosom bouncing enticingly. He paled in worry. "Mina! Don't run!"

She hummed in thought before she was caught by one of her own feet, causing her to trip.

"Crap!" he cursed before running up to her, catching her as she fell. "You okay, Mina?"

The girl just laughed weakly. "Y – Yeah. Sorry, Shirou."

"Flirting in the halls already?" a new voice teased, a girl with elbow-length brown hair that hung down over her face in a multitude of bangs, multiple strands of hair poking out behind her head, and some of it braided in two ponytails that hung on the front of her body, amber eyes, and wearing the female Kuoh uniform with the vest covering her moderate bust, and large, pink-rimmed glasses.

Shirou just looked at her confused. "Oh, it's just you Aika."

She pointed down.

Shirou looked and realized his left hand was firmly sunk into Mina's voluptuous chest. He turned bright red and stepped away from her.

' _Pity…_ ' Siegfried pouted.

After chuckling, Aika then stepped up to Shirou and grabbed his cheek, hard. "Now, what did you mean by it's 'just' me?"

"E – Eh? Ow, ow! Please let go!"

Aika pouted and released his face with a rather loud snap. "So, you get me anything in Italy?"

Rubbing his sore face, Shirou shook his head. "No. Because you didn't ask me to get you a gift."

Aika twitched an eyebrow and grabbed both of his cheeks. "A girl shouldn't _have_ to ask!"

Mina laughed weakly and tried to get Aika off him. "H – Hey be nice Aika…"

Aika frowned and released the red-haired teen with a sigh. "Geez… you're too soft on him, Mina."

' _She's soft alright,_ ' Siegfried sniggered.

Shirou huffed at the girl. "I prefer her softness over your pinching Aika."

Aika snickered victoriously. "Oh-hoh? Admitting you like her boobs, huh?"

Shirou winced as his face turned red.

Siegfried could not, or did not try to, contain her laughter. ' _You walked into that one. So go walk right into them._ '

' _Shut up. Brunhilde, why did you let this pervert in my head?_ '

Siegfried answered bluntly. ' _I'm good with my hands.'_

Shirou twitched an eyebrow, hoping to hear a retort from Brunhilde.

' _Sh – She is…_ ' she answered with a shy tremor.

Shirou just groaned in exasperation. "Let's just get to class…"

"Yeah…" Mina agreed as the three headed in.

* * *

Shirou stretched his shoulder uncomfortably as he sat down. ' _Those three really made me stiff this morning…_ '

' _Oh something was definitely stiff,_ ' Siegfried commented.

' _Shut up please…_ '

' _Why should I?_ '

Interrupting his internal dialogue, a doddery old man with a balding head of hair walked into the classroom. "Sit down everyone, I have an announcement to make…" the old man stated slowly.

Shirou twitched an eyebrow furiously. ' _… This has to deal with the girls. I just know it._ '

"We've got two new teachers joining us today, and a couple new students. Oh, and Mr. Kusanagi has resigned as your homeroom teacher…"

' _Two teachers?_ '

"Come in…" the old man urged as the door open and two people entered the room.

' _Knew it…_ ' Shirou grumbled in his mind as Lucretia walked in with Hephaestus.

Lucretia bowed gracefully. "Lucretia Zola. I'll be your new homeroom teacher."

Hephaestus waved lazily. "Makunosai, your home ec teacher."

Shirou sighed in small relief as the boys in the class went wild for the two beauties. ' _Good. Seems they aren't going to do anything that will cause me problems._ '

Lucretia chuckled at the rowdy class. "Now, now, boys, calm down. I'm already taken."

Shirou paled before sending a glare at her. ' _Don't. You. Dare…_ '

"Now let's see… Ah! There you are, Shirou!"

Shirou frowned, ignoring the other guys in the room who stared death at him.

Lucretia looked at her fellow redhead with a smirk. "Well?"

Hephaestus folded her arms with a huff. "No. I'm not going to play into your prank."

Lucretia pouted, though still smirking. "Aw, you're no fun."

"I am when I want to be."

Shrugging, Lucretia redirected the conversation. "At any rate, we have a few new students as well. Come introduce yourself, girls."

The entire class gasped in awe as Xenovia, Irina, and Erica walked into the room.

Shirou twitched an eyebrow furiously. ' _… None of them better…_ '

"I'm Irina Shidou!" the chestnut-haired beauty introduced with a bright smile.

"Xenovia Quarta," added the short-haired girl plainly.

"Erica Blandelli," finally the blonde added with a formal smile.

Mina stood from her chair with surprise. "Irina…?"

Irina looked at the brunette with surprise before a wide smile formed. "Mina!?" she exclaimed before diving at the girl with a hug. "It's been so long, Mina!" The two laughed before Irina noticed the guys in the room staring at the sight and drooling. She stood up with a frown in return.

Shirou groaned, knowing what was coming.

Pointing at the staring onlookers, Irina chided, "Eyes off! This is only for Shirou! We've already pledged our lives to Shirou Emiya!"

Mina looked to the side, blushing, but said nothing.

Shirou just sighed as the class scowled at him before grumbling, "And don't glare. I have no control over my childhood friends."

After the class calmed and everyone moved to their seats, Shirou twitched an eyebrow at the seating arrangement. Mina sat to the right of his desk as usual, Irina to his left in a previously empty desk, Erica behind him, Xenovia in front of him, and Aika to the left of Xenovia.

Hephaestus, giving a simple lecture, smiled in slight amusement as she watched.

Shirou sighed heavily. ' _This school year just got much more annoying…_ '

' _Because your harem is here?_ ' Siegfried questioned.

' _Shut up._ '

' _Nope._ '

Brunhilde sighed in defeat as Shirou pinched the bridge of his nose.

* * *

"What is with you?!" Shirou bellowed as he spoke privately with Irina and the other new attendees.

"H – Huh?" Irina stammered as she stumbled back in shock.

"What do you mean, my husband?" Lucretia questioned.

"That! You being at my school is one thing! I can get used to it but what's with that 'pledge your lives to me' bullshit!?"

Xenovia folded her arms with frustration. "I had to take that pledge when we were assigned to serve…" Glancing at Irina, she added, "Some took to it more gleefully than others."

Shirou's jaw almost hit the floor. "… Heh?"

Lucretia, who was still smirking with amusement, who added, "The Mage's Association is subservient to the Campiones, so any mages living within a region are automatically pledged to that King. And since I was there when you became a King I was to be your mage bride."

"Right… So why did you and Hephaestus do that crap then…?"

"Iri didn't want me and the vacationing goddess freeloading."

"Yeah, I get that. But you didn't have to barge in with all that stuff about me!"

Lucretia pretended to pout. "Aww… You didn't like it?"

"Whether I liked it or not isn't the point. The point is that I've now got a target on my back from just about every guy in school! And even some of the girls!"

"You're not scared, are you?"

Shirou sighed as he folded his arms. "Of course not. Even before transforming I could've handled them easily. But that's the problem, they're all essentially normal humans, they don't know anything about the magical world, plus I can't just go around killing people. Meaning having them trying to shank me is going to be a real pain on the ass!"

"Then we'll deal with them," Erica remarked firmly.

"No! You can't just go around using magic on people or fighting them. But now, I'm going to have all kinds of people at my throat and I'll need to fight back without using any magic or alchemy and making sure I don't kill them! It's going to make studying _extremely_ difficult! GRAH! FUCK YOU E-RANK LUCK!"

"What are you shouting about so early in the day?" an annoyed voice asked.

Shirou turned in surprise and saw a tall, buxom woman with long, wavy purple hair tied in a folded ponytail at the back with two long locks hanging down, framing her face, accentuating her dark red eyes, wearing a white, frilly blouse with long sleeves and a wide neck that revealed a large portion of her voluptuous bust, including the mole on her right breast, along with a small portion of her black, lacy bra underneath, a short, form-hugging black skirt with a small slit up the right side, black high-heeled shoes, and long, thigh-high stockings with lacy black garters visible at the edges of the skirt, along with frameless, squared glasses. "O – Oh. Ms. Suzune…"

' _Great stonking tits!_ ' Siegfried howled. ' _They're almost as big as Lucoa's!_ '

Shirou winced at the voice howling in his mind.

Suzune turned to Hephaestus and Lucretia. "So you're the two new teachers?"

"That we are," Lucretia answered.

The purple-haired beauty then turned her attention to Shirou. "I suggest you return to class, it is not yet break time."

"I was already on my way there."

"Good."

* * *

Later in the day, Shirou sighed as he sat on the school's roof eating his lunch alone. "Nice and peaceful…" As if to make a fool of him, the door to the roof opened.

"Shirou Emiya?" a voice asked.

Shirou turned and saw a girl with fair skin, bright blue eyes, and long, waist-length, blonde hair and an impressive bust wearing the female Kuoh uniform. "Whoa… Y – Yes."

"My name is Yuumi Kiba," she introduced with a bow.

"Right."

' _Devil,_ ' Siegfried stated plainly.

' _I know,_ ' he grumbled in his mind.

"Are you busy?" she asked.

"No…"

"Then will you come with me?"

"Sure…" he answered apprehensively. "Lead the way to wherever we're going."

Yuumi nodded with a pleasant smile.

* * *

He swiftly regretted his decision as she brought him to the unoccupied, old school building off from the main academy grounds. ' _… Creepy building._ ' "Do you devils always love stereotyping?"

Yuumi flinched slightly, but her expression remained unchanged.

"I mean, creepy old building? Definitely a stereotype."

"L – Let's just head inside."

"Sure. Not like this is a trap or anything. Would be stupid if it was."

"I – Indeed…" she muttered uncomfortably.

"There's no need to be nervous."

"R – Right."

He then followed Yuumi into the building until they reached a large set of double doors.

"Here it is."

"What's… it?"

"The Occult Research Club." Pushing the doors open, she ushered Issei into the room.

It was a large room with few decorations on the back wall where the doors sat, a small number of windows on the left wall with the curtains drawn, several simple paintings on the far wall, and multiple more paintings on the right wall with a door in the far corner on the right-side wall, along with a large, red rug on which a wide table and large chair at the back wall of the room and an elliptical red table with two couches on either side of it sat.

"You could have chosen better to remain anonymous."

"It wasn't my choice…" she lamented.

"I figured. You seem smart enough not to follow stereotypes." He gaped as he saw three people inside.

The first was a young woman in her late teens with a buxom figure, light skin, long, crimson-red, waist-length hair with a single strand sticking up off her head, loose bangs covering her forehead and framing her face, blue-green eyes and wearing the female Kuoh uniform with a small cape added on that fastened in the front just above her ample bosom.

The second was a young woman the same age as Rias with long black hair tied in a ponytail that still managed to reach her ankles that had two long antennae sticking out and sloping backwards along with violet eyes and a bust even larger than Rias' own, larger than even Lucretia's.

The third and final was a petite girl who appeared to be around fifteen, with short white hair with two slightly longer bangs going past her shoulders and several loose bangs around her forehead, while the back was in a short bob cut, along with hazel eyes, a black, cat-shaped clip on both sides of her hair, as well as the Kuoh Academy uniform, the variant without the mantle.

Shirou gave a small sniff as he stood.

' _Orgy!_ ' Siegfried exclaimed with excitement.

Motioning to the group, Yuumi introduced them. "This is our club president, Rias Gremory, the vice president Akeno Himejima, and one of the other members, Koneko Tojou."

Shirou looked over the three in thought. "Full-blooded, part angel, and part kitten."

Koneko stared at him silently, though Rias smirked with intrigue. "You're a perceptive one indeed."

"I just have a nose for these things."

"Dog," Koneko bit quietly.

"No."

"Now, now," Rias remarked with mild amusement. "No need to be rude."

Koneko frowned silently.

"So, with your apparent knowledge of the supernatural, that means I can get to the point."

Shirou furrowed his brow in thought. "… You… don't know my family very well if you assumed that I'd lack knowledge of the Moonlit World.'

"Well sometimes families of humans would rather keep their children ignorant of such things."

"Even Magus?"

"There are even cases of that. But that's not important now."

"I want to make one thing clear before we go any further."

"Oh?"

"I won't join your Peerage. After all, a Campione is too powerful for a devil to even try to reincarnate."

Rias' eyes went wide with surprise at the statement. "This is certainly a most interesting turn of events."

"So Sona didn't inform you?"

"Sona knows about you as well?"

"That's a no. And yes, we have an agreement already set in place."

Rias pouted in frustration. "Well that complicates things."

"Not necessarily. I'm still willing to form an agreement with you, you just need to give me something Sona isn't already, and that doesn't go against the agreement I have with her."

"I see…"

"So tell me what you want."

The room quickly went silent, with the only sound being Koneko munching on biscuits.

Shirou raised an eyebrow at the silence.

Suddenly, Akeno began to speak. "There is somethi –"

"Akeno," Rias interrupted sharply.

Shirou frowned suspiciously. "Let her speak."

"It's nothing relevant to our discussion." Under her breath she remarked, "There's nothing you can do anyway."

Akeno blinked in thought before a small smirk formed on her lips. "It's alright if you push him away, Rias. You'll just have to suffer for the rest of your life."

Shirou frowned deeply. "… And why is that…?"

Rias turned to the raven-haired beauty with annoyance, Akeno continuing. "She's been forced into a political marriage with a man who is wholly despicable."

The red-haired teen narrowed his eyes angrily. "… How do you want it dissolved?"

Akeno's smirk widened. "Well, if it's a direct order from a King, the majority of the Underworld is likely to comply. Of course, the man himself is likely to resist."

"Too bad for him then. So what do I have to do to cancel his marriage? Just cancel it?"

Akeno shrugged slightly in response. "You could do that. But it's more likely to be accepted if you offer a better deal."

"Okay…? Like what? A weapon of some kind? Territory?"

Rias began, "I would say –"

"Her marrying you," Akeno suggested, interrupting Rias.

"A – Akeno!" Rias stammered in embarrassment.

Siegfried snickered in amusement. ' _Called it._ '

Shirou just shrugged in response. "If that's what she wants. We could always break it off later."

Rias looked at him in shock.

"What? If it helps, I'll give it a shot."

"Right…"

Akeno nodded appreciatively before smiling slyly. "You're certainly willing to help someone you just met."

"I can tell you're not lying Sadist Queen."

Akeno's eyes widened subtly as she stiffened.

He then looked at Rias. "It's not just that. I can't stand by and do nothing when I have the power to help."

Akeno returned a small smile of appreciation.

Shirou then changed the subject slightly. "Anyway… shall we formalize it?"

"Yes," Rias answered with a nod before reaching a hand out to him.

* * *

"What a day…" Shirou groaned as he left the school. ' _I know I'm tempting fate here, but please no more crazy…_ '

' _Never tempt fate,_ ' Siegfried warned.

Shirou stood still and looked around suspiciously. "… Am I safe? Maybe I am…" Sighing in relief, he rounded a corner and bumped into someone, feeling his head wrapped in softness. ' _Shit…_ ' Pulling back, he saw a mature woman with long, hip-length, dark brown hair that had two strands sticking up from the top of her head, bangs hanging down over her forehead, parted in the center with a single lock hanging down between them, falling between her bright, emerald eyes, wearing red, half-frame glasses, an ankle-length, white lab coat, a sleeveless, turtleneck, green sweater with vertical stripes that greatly accentuated her wide bosom, a dark grey miniskirt with a slit up one side, nearly to her waist, thigh-high, dark brown stockings with black garters that disappeared under her skirt, and navy blue high-heeled shoes.

He stepped back and bowed. "Oh. Sorry about that…"

' _… Whoa… who's this babe?_ ' Siegfried asked in awe.

' _Chisato Hasegawa, the school's nurse._ '

Chisato just shook her head in response to him.

"Anyway… Something wrong?"

"No," she answered bluntly.

Shirou sighed in relief. "Ah. Good to hear, for a second there I thought something bad came up."

"I see," she replied before walking away.

After a moment's pause, Siegfried noted, ' _By the by, she's an angel._ '

' _We know,_ ' both Shirou and Brunhilde answered.

Siegfried was silent in shock for a moment. ' _… Seriously? How?_ '

' _My nose knows these things,_ ' he answered cryptically.

Siegfried pouted in frustration. ' _Right…_ '

' _Anything else before we head home?_ ' Brunhilde asked, redirecting the conversation.

Shirou put a hand on his chin in consideration. ' _Not that I can think of._ '

* * *

Shirou sighed in relief as he walked through the front door. "Good to be home…" he sighed only to be tackled in a firm hug.

"Big Brother!" Illya cheered as she hung from his waist.

"H – Huh?!" he stammered in surprise, ready to react, only to realize it was her. "Oh. Hey Illya."

Illya just giggled happily, only for Sella to grab her by the collar and pull her away.

" _You_ need to do your homework, young lady," the maid chided.

Illya pouted defensively. "Aww…"

"That won't work on me."

Illya huffed in defiance.

Shirou chuckled and patted her head gently. "It's okay, Illya, we can play later."

"Okay…" she responded as he headed for his room.

* * *

Shortly later, as he worked, he heard a knock on his door. "It's open."

In walked a curious Iri. "Do you have a moment?"

"Of course," he answered with a smile.

"So, how did your first day back go?"

Shirou slumped in his chair with a heavy sigh. "Crazy. And made deals with two devils."

Iri put her hands on her cheeks with excitement. "Wow! Two more girls already!"

The boy just stared up at her, annoyed. "… You don't know that they're –"

She bluntly interrupted, "The only two important devils you could meet are Sona and Rias."

He twitched an eyebrow at her block. "… They aren't in my harem."

She cooed in further excitement. "So you finally admit you have one!"

Shirou slammed his hand on the desk. "A threesome is not a harem!" he argued before wincing as he realized what he had just said. "U – Uh, that… I…"

Iri's eyes widened in disbelief.

Shirou began to sweat in fear. "W – Wait, I can explai –"

"You've had a threesome already!?" she asked with starry-eyed glee. "With who?! When?! How was it!? Can I meet them!? When are they due!?"

Shirou sighed heavily and decided to just answer her questions. "Yes. Sakura and Chisato. Three months ago. Great. No clue. And what?"

Iri, now leaning in overly close to Shirou's face, demanded, "When will I get grandbabies!?"

"How should I know!?" he blurted out.

Siegfried laughed proudly. "I underestimated you, kiddo!"

' _Please shut up…_ '

Iri pouted in disappointment. "Well if you've already done it once, do it again until I have grandbabies!"

"Do you even realize that you're basically whoring out your own son!?"

"Adoptive," she corrected with a playful smile.

Shirou just twitched both eyebrows as he looked at her in disbelief. "… Still! It's not right!"

Wagging a finger angrily, she accented, "Grand. Babies. Need. Them."

Shirou just continued to stare in annoyed disbelief.

With a sigh, Iri added, "If not you, then Illya."

That immediately got him to wince before he stood up and closed the door. "… Why…? Why is my mother so insane!?"

' _She is grandbaby crazy,_ ' Brunhilde noted.

Siegfried, who had been laughing madly throughout all of this, added, ' _I've seen women be baby crazy before, but_ this _is something else!_ '

' _… I'm beginning to regret you keeping Siegfried here, Benny…_ '

' _Benny? BENNY!? He calls you Benny?!_ '

The two went silent at her. ' _… Shut. Up._ '

' _No!_ '

Shirou just groaned heavily as he slumped onto his bed.

* * *

Later that night, Shirou sat at the dinner table, eating with everyone else, but his attention was averted when he noticed Asia trying to use chopsticks to eat her breakfast, and failing to do so, in a manner he found completely adorable.

Shirou frowned and pressed his hands together before a knife and fork appeared in his grasp, however, he was interrupted.

"Need some help Asia?" Irina asked as she sat next to the blonde.

Asia puffed her cheeks in frustration. "Y – Yeah… these sticks are hard to use…"

"Here, then let me show you."

Shirou simply smiled as he watched the two, dispelling the silverware in a small burst.

Shortly after finishing her food, Illya turned to Sella. "May I be excused?"

Sella, surprised by the girl's sudden formality, merely nodded dumbly. "Y – Yes, of course."

Illya responded with a gleeful giggle as she ran around the table and leapt onto Shirou's arm. "Let's play now!"

Shirou merely chuckled as he stood up, holding the girl. "Okay, okay. What do you want to do then?"

"A game!"

"Alright, let's go," he replied as he set her down and followed her to her room.

Irina smiled pleasantly as they left before frowning somewhat. "They sure are close, aren't they…?"

"Indeed…" Xenovia added with her frown, hers tinted with more suspicion than Irina's.

Smirking slyly, Lucretia offered, "Want some tips to get closer?"

The two just stared in silence.

Iri, smiling, interjected, "Please do. The blue one will give me some exotic grandbabies."

The two's expressions began to change dramatically red.

"Shall I help?" Maiya offered.

Their faces were now immensely red.

Erica then broke the tension as she commented, "I'd gladly do him."

The duo looked at her in shock as Iri smiled happily. "Oh how nice!"

Asia tilted her head in mild confusion. "Do him? Do what?"

Iri looked at her in shock.

Maiya, seeing this, noted, "Shall I?"

Iri immediately put her hands between Maiya and Asia, as if to further shield Asia. "No! She's too pure!"

"Accepted."

The blonde just tilted her head in further bewilderment.

* * *

Shirou, sitting on Illya's bed next to her, asked, "So… What are we pl –?" only to receive his answer as she plopped a gamepad into his grasp. "Ah…"

"Let's play!" she cheered with excitement.

Shirou, not wanting to dampen the mood, just nodded. "S – Sure…" ' _How does this work again…? Hm…_ ' Despite his lack of knowledge in video games, he surmised the one she got going was a racing game and nodded to himself. ' _Well… This might be easy…_ '

Illya grinned with excitement as the game started, only for Shirou to immediately send his car zooming out ahead of hers. "F – Fast!" she exclaimed before starting hers, not two seconds out she failed a sharp turn and slammed into a barrier.

Shirou laughed quietly. ' _Yup… drives just as bad as Mom…_ '

* * *

 **And done! I hope everyone enjoyed it. Be sure to let me know with a review if you did. If you were confused, unsure, or simply have questions on anything, let me know in a review and I will do what I can to address your concerns. Though if they are related to spoilers I cannot promise a satisfying answer here, as many people dislike spoilers; so you would be better served with a PM. If you did not enjoy it, review if you must, but try to have a point, please. Oh, and understand proper English diction. That said, enough babbling, until next time, bye-bye!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter IV**

 **Hello everyone! I am back with the next chapter of Crimson Sword King, in case you could not tell. As usual, sorry for the absence, life has been crazy, blah blah blah. Hope everyone enjoyed the previous chapter, the reception seems to be overall positive, but that can always change. I hope everyone enjoys this chapter as well. That said, thanks to Bakuto Masaki, who has been helping me along the way, as usual. Anyway, enough rambling, on with the reviewer responses!**

 **Warmach1ne32: Sadly mistakes like that happen when adapting a story plan to a new character. No one's perfect, but thanks for pointing it out.**

 **Have a Little Feith: Because Siegfried _is_ a woman in this story. I think I mentioned it earlier in the story, but take everything you think you know about how the mechanics of the Nasuverse and the Campione universe work and throw them in the garbage, this universe plays by my rules. Athena and Medusa are most certainly separate people in this story. And genderbends are my thing, there's WAY more beyond what you've seen so far.**

 **kamenheroHEISEI: I don't think I understand what you mean there.**

 **I read many light novels, How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord, Is it Wrong to Try to Pick up Girls in a Dungeon, KonoSuba, Monster Girl Doctor, and more, so what you're complaining about is just my writing style.**

 **aliesterus: I'll be using Kazuma's steal on that bit instantly.**

 **I think whether you wind up in a ditch being fancy or being clumsy, you're still calling a tow truck.**

 **KeyofSolomon.M.E: Well here's more my friend! I assure you Shirou will be playing Duck Hunt soon enough. Two SisCons in one room... oh my.**

 **Raphaim: I see. Well it will stop growing for a little bit. And it's supposed to be a little annoying, it will tone down soon.**

 **snowyassas1n: The introductions will slow down for a bit. The harem is going to keep growing throughout the story though, that I can promise.**

 **Kayen1024: Most of the devils he's talking to are, or presume they will at some point be, in high positions of power, they're trying to keep a poker face, or as much of one as they can, to not lose face. There's no such thing as too many. You're not the only one to say that.**

 **Exanime Draco: That's probably for the best. You can take the story however you please, but having an overly serious view of it will only hamper your enjoyment. Wow. Another reviewer noted how a joke stat sheet for a character elsewhere had the character's Luck just ranked as "fuck you".**

 **Blade1986: Perfect summary as usual. And yeah, I figured that particular bit would be a nice twist but not completely out of left field, if you know anything about Sakura and Chisato. And yes, crappy driving appears to be genetic.**

 **Guest: Sadly faster isn't something I can promise, but I can promise updates. Sort of like Valve, except I can count past two.**

 **Guest: The name is Eustoma, but you were on the right track with SMT.**

 **SentinalSlice: ... No promises.**

 **And yeah, he has more a magus' mind to him.**

 **PanickingNoob94: I'd also like to think I have slightly better material to work with too.**

 **Dragolord09: The Matou family besides Sakura is gone completely. The house isn't even left.**

 **She thought Arachne would be able to weave even better creations creating her own thread. She's a goddess, but that doesn't mean she's perfect.**

 **ultima-owner: Both of those statements are extremely true.**

 **Aesir19: He's not Ichika, so there's hope.**

 **Mana's Cinder: To my knowledge it was always a thing, but I could be wrong, I'm not that well versed on the brilliant batshit that is the Nasuverse.**

 **I know, but it's introductory, so it's going to feel that way a bit. I assure you it won't stay that way.**

 **I am aware of that, but I think it's a waste of word space to itemize the source of each new character, especially when I'm doing so many per chapter. I tried it with one of my other stories and it just slowed everything down even more. And don't worry, Shirou will be getting a backbone surgery soon.**

 **Well here's the thing, despite how she looks and acts, Illya is actually older than Shirou, by almost ten years.**

 **ZenithTempest: I can't promise that, but I can promise you'll get a sequel to it at some point.**

 **EspadaJ18: You hit the nail on the head with one of your positions, though I won't say which. If you know anything about me, however, the answer won't be hard to figure out.**

 **Kuroi Tetsu: I like to get all the pieces on the board before getting them in order.**

 **006Sam: I made it clear High School DxD was part of the story, why _wouldn't_ Sacred Gears come up?**

 **Guest: I think I may have explained it, or I may not have, but there's more to gaining Authorities than just killing a god.**

 **ITalkToSky: Nuclear Gandhi indeed.**

 **unLucker: I don't like using OC girls.**

 **kyuubi092: Yup, it's Eiyu Senki Siegfried.**

 **sondowth: What do you mean?**

 **And phew! THAT was a big one! Keep 'em coming people, I love it. On with the main event.**

* * *

Shirou laughed quietly as he played a video game with Illya. ' _Yup… drives just as bad as Mom…_ ' he muttered in his mind as she slammed her virtual vehicle into an obstacle. "So, how's school going?" he decided to ask, continuing their conversation.

Illya leaned to the side as she attempted to steer her car around a shallow bend, narrowly avoiding the guide rail. "H – Huh? Oh, fine. Gah!" she growled as she hit a shrub.

"Good to hear," he commented casually as he drove. "You've been making friends?"

"O – Of course!" she shouted as she slammed head-on into a building, pouting as she was reset yet again. "Th – There's Nanaki, Tatsuko, and Suzuka…" she listed off her friends as she continued driving.

"Good to hear. Mind the gap there."

Seeing what he was talking about, she tried to avoid the break in the road. "Turn! No, other way! Uwah!" she hollered as she crashed again.

Shirou just laughed weakly to himself.

' _She can't drive at all,_ ' Siegfried commented.

' _Neither can our mother._ '

' _Agreed,_ ' Brunhilde remarked with a hint of terror.

' _You get lucky then?_ ' Siegfried asked.

' _I don't have luck,_ ' Shirou repeated almost robotically.

' _Right…_ ' the blue-haired woman groaned.

"Tree," he called out plainly.

"T – Tree?!" Illya exclaimed as her car wrapped itself around the tree, causing her to whine in defeat once more.

* * *

Shortly later, as the game displayed the results screen, Illya slumped her shoulders in disappointment.

"I lost…"

' _Badly,_ ' Siegfried chided, thankfully for the girl she could not hear the woman's words.

Shirou just smiled and patted her head gently. "It's okay. You'll do better next time."

Illya looked up at him, doubtful. "You really think so…?"

Shirou nodded firmly.

Illya stared silently for a moment before smiling brightly.

* * *

Shirou flexed his shoulder as he walked through the halls of the school with the girls. "Time for another new day… Wonder what kind of crazy I'll get today…" At that moment he glanced towards the window and saw a girl with light brown hair racing towards the school. "Who's that?" he wondered aloud.

Irina, looking out at the girl as well, tilted her head in thought. "I don't know. Didn't see her yesterday."

"I see…" he muttered in thought.

"Come on, let's go!" Irina cheered as she grabbed his arm.

"Indeed, let's make haste," Erica added, wrapping around his other arm.

Xenovia just stared quietly.

Mina pouted in disappointment as the two dragged Shirou in a hurry.

* * *

Shirou finally managed to free his arms from the bosom brace the girls had on him and made for his seat when he noticed a familiarly unfamiliar face in the class, the girl he had seen running toward the building, a cute, petite brunette with matching chestnut eyes. ' _Huh… guess she's a new student._ '

Brunhilde corrected him bluntly. ' _She's been here for a while, but you're usually in too much of a haze to notice the people around you._ '

' _Oh… would you happen to know her name?_ '

Brunhilde felt a pang of annoyance to the teen but answered him all the same. ' _Yuri Mariya, and from her mana levels I'd say she is a priestess or shrine maiden with oracle abilities._ '

' _I see…_ '

* * *

The girl catching his curiosity, Shirou tried to focus on the classes throughout the day, occasionally asking Brunhilde what she knew about the girl. Which ultimately amounted to nothing with a bit of Siegfried's own perverted comments thrown in.

"Shi – ro – u!"

"Huh?" He was pulled from his internal dialogue by Irina rhythmically humming his name as she approached him in the hall. "Is something wrong, Irina?"

"Ah, there you are!" she smiled before running up to him.

Without pause, Siegfried warned, ' _Her boobs are going to be in your face._ '

Paling at that clear eventuality, he attempted to stop it. "I – Irina, don't run!"

Irina looked at him curious, her foot predictably catching on a loose tile, sending her tumbling forward.

"Crap!" he grumbled, practically diving to catch her, managing to grab her before she hit the floor, her legs in one arm, and her shoulders supported by the other. "You okay?" he asked with a sigh of relief.

Irina, her face flushed brightly, nodded slowly. "Y – Yeah…"

"Good to hear," he responded with a smile.

"Ahem," Erica coughed, interrupting the moment as she stood with the others.

Shirou just looked at her as he stood up, still holding Irina, who had gleefully wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "Oh, hi."

Suppressing a twitching eyebrow as she watched, Erica forced a smile as she remarked, "Well then, Shirou-kun shall we have lunch?"

"Um, sure," he replied plainly.

Her twitch getting worse, she pointed at Irina. "You might want to put her down, first."

Irina pouted as she hugged herself closer to Shirou. "I don't mind being in his arms."

Erica's twitching eyebrow gave weigh to a popped vein as she grabbed one of Shirou's arms and pulled him with her, resulting in Irina flopping to the floor. "Let's go."

As they walked, Shirou eventually wrenching his arm free of Erica's grip, he realized Yuri was walking up to him.

' _Well ain't she forward,_ ' Siegfried commented.

"Can I help you?" Shirou asked, trying to ignore the second woman in his head.

Yuri, fidgeting somewhat nervously, spoke up after a lengthy pause, "U - Um… I'm sorry, but could I impose on you a bit, later today?"

Shirou waved a hand with a smile. "No problem at all. When and where?"

"Erm, is after school on the roof okay?"

"That works, I'll see you then," he answered as he rejoined the others.

After a short moment, Siegfried accused, ' _She's up to something._ '

' _Obviously. The question is, what,_ ' Shirou shot back bluntly.

' _To get in your pants?_ '

Shirou twitched an eyebrow before pinching his nose as he followed the girls to a tree at the edge of the building, a lunchbox in his hand.

As they sat down, Brunhilde brought up a relevant query. ' _That aside, since you're a Campione now, you don't need to eat, so where are you going?_ '

Shirou stopped almost instantaneously. ' _What?_ '

Siegfried, with an almost verbal shrug, added, ' _Campiones are perfectly immortal, they don't need to eat._ '

' _… Oh._ '

' _Dummy._ '

' _I still feel hungry though…_ ' he answered as he opened the fabric-wrapped container.

' _Your desire to eat doesn't go away, just your need to._ '

' _Isn't that technically the same thing though?_ '

' _No, you're not actually hungry, you just want to eat. If you ignored it, it would eventually go away and after enough time it would disappear entirely._ '

' _Right…_ ' he returned with a confused sigh.

"Ooh!" Irina cooed as she looked at her own lunch. "Aunt Iri still makes the best lunchboxes!" She then noticed that Shirou's looked somewhat different to her own. "Why's yours so different?"

"Because Mina made it, not Mom."

Sakura pouted slightly as she listened before continuing with her meal.

* * *

As the day drew to close, Irina prepared to head home with the rest when she noticed Shirou heading in the opposite direction in the hallway. "Huh? Shirou, where are you going?"

Shirou gave a half bow as he apologized. "Sorry, have to meet with someone real quick. Just get going without me, I'll meet you guys at the library."

Irina pouted as he left before joining the others.

* * *

Shirou arrived at the roof and looked around curiously. "Hmmm… around here right…?" He frowned somewhat in concern, looking for Yuri. "Let's see… she said the roof… so… ah, Mariya!" he shouted as he ran up to the timid girl. "Sorry it took me a little while to get here."

Yuri's expression stiffened as she bowed in return to him. "No, I apologize as well."

Shirou raised an eyebrow and decided to see how much she was aware of. "For what? Bringing me here for mage business?"

That caught the girl's attention, who began stammering over her own words. "I – I know that asking this is inappropriate… e – especially to one of the Demon Kings…"

Shirou just gave her a pleasant smile as he retorted, "A King is one who must listen to the woes of and aid his people."

Yuri's cheeks heated up slightly before she seemed to ease up with relief. "Y – You really think so?"

"Yes. That is a king's true duty, to me at least. So, what troubles you, miss mage?"

Yuri again bowed deeply, correcting him, "N – No, I am a Shrine Maiden, your majesty."

"Right, right, and you don't have to call me that. Just Emiya is fine."

"U – Understood, your maj – erm, Emiya."

"I don't believe we've met, Shirou Emiya," a new, thoughtful voice commented.

Shirou tensed up as he turned abruptly to the source of the remark and saw a young woman with short, neatly combed brown hair, simple glasses over her brown eyes, and wearing a tight-fitting green coat, showing off her generous bust, and tight stockings underneath.

Siegfried gave out a firm wolf whistle to the woman.

The woman bowed lightly. "My name is Touko Aozaki, with the Committee for the Compilation of True History, and I've been waiting for the chance we may meet."

Shirou narrowed his eyes with suspicion. "Before or after I became a Campione?"

Touko smirked with mild amusement. "A little bit of both."

Yuri, timidly and concerned, looked between the two, lost on their discussion.

"Well it's nice to meet you," Shirou returned politely. "Don't really know anything about that group you mentioned, though."

Nodding in understanding, she explained, "Put simply, whenever something involving magic or gods happens in Japan, we're the organization that cleans up the mess and comes up with a cover story."

"Like those fiascos known as the Holy Grail Wars?"

Touko adjusted her glasses with a sigh. "Among other problems, yes."

"Right. Do you get the devils here to help?"

Touko shook her head in denial. "We generally try to solve things without them. They tend to be… problematic."

Shirou found that rather surprising. "Really? Sona and… well Sona seems reasonable."

"That may be true in general, but they are still devils and, after all, many of the old tales have some grain of truth. Legends aren't formed completely from fantasy."

Shirou felt himself growing more and more suspicious of the woman before him as their discussion continued.

"Now, before we begin, I'd like to apologize for having Miss Yuri bring you up here so we could speak. I had a feeling you wouldn't show up if I came to you directly."

"As I told Yuri before. A King is one who listen to the woes of and aid his people. Though if it had been you directly I certainly would have taken a few more precautions."

"Good to know," Touko answered with a nod.

"Now what are you here to ask me? Is it about Doni?" Deciding to take a shot in the dark, he took a big swing. "Or Medusa?"

"A little bit of both, actually."

"Right…"

The conversation was momentarily sidelined by Yuri finally letting her curiosity take over. "U – Um, I don't mean to be rude, but… are you really a Demon King?"

"Yes, I wasn't aware that was still up for debate," he answered, confused and somewhat irritated, though he decided making Yuri aware of that would not do any good. "Why do you ask?"

Fidgeting nervously, she answered slowly, "W – Well, I – I'd always heard that all the Demon Kings are rash, violent, cruel, and destructive…"

"I see…" he mumbled in consternation. "I suppose if the others are anything like Doni, that description is generally accurate. Which is a sad thing to learn."

Nodding, Touko continued the discussion. "So let me get to my next question. Is it true? Did you really kill Lord Salvatore Doni?"

Shirou hissed in mild disgust before answering. "He threatened those that were with me for his own amusement. If I hadn't he would endanger even more just by being alive, just to fight me."

"I… didn't know Campione _could_ die…" Touko remarked in astonishment.

Shirou merely shrugged. "If Gods can then Campiones can too. If they couldn't there would probably be many more wandering the world than there are now."

"I'm really sorry to drag you into this, Emiya," Yuri apologized, again.

Shirou frowned slightly and shook his head. "Hey, stop that already, I don't really consider myself a king or anything like that."

' _Yet you're acting like one,_ ' Brunhilde and Siegfried chided.

Shirou responded by smacking his head lightly to silence them.

' _Oh like that'll do anything but give you a headache,_ ' Siegfried rebuffed.

Touko folded her arms in thought and glanced at Yuri. "Well then, it seems this King is different than the one you know."

Shirou blinked in surprise. "Wait, you've met one?"

"In a manner of speaking, yes. It's a rather sordid tale that, for Yuri's sake, is best left buried."

Shirou frowned deeply with suspicion. "Oh…?"

' _Oh boy…_ ' Brunhilde grumbled.

' _Oh this isn't going to be good…_ ' Siegfried lamented.

Touko sighed and adjusted her glasses before redirecting the conversation. "At any rate, what I wanted to talk to you about were those girls you returned to Japan with."

Shirou narrowed his eyes with further suspicion. "What about them? They're not a threat."

"They are all allied with the Catholic Church, based in Rome, correct?"

Shirou frowned and retorted, "Lucretia hates the church, Asia was declared a heretic and a witch and so has no association with them, Irina has made it clear her allegiance lies with me first, not them, Xenovia I'm still a bit unsure on but she seems to have Irina's best interests at heart. Not to mention Erica seems more interested in her own future and personal place in the world than blind loyalty to her order."

"I see."

"Okay, so why are you so curious about them? Worried they're a threat to you?"

"It's a possibility. Do you understand how rare it is for a woman of God to turn her back on Him so readily? It's so rare as to never happen."

Shirou huffed in dismissal. "You can't turn your back on someone who's no longer there."

Touko narrowed her eyes heavily.

Yuri, however, froze.

"Something wrong?" Shirou returned.

"Y – You can't be serious…" Yuri mumbled.

"About Him being gone? Of course, otherwise the Great War would still be going on."

Touko pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. "You certainly know more than I anticipated…"

Shirou merely shrugged. "The first thing you should always know about dealing with people. Never anticipate anything, otherwise you will always be surprised." After waiting a moment for them to catch up, he added, "Now, as for the girls, Irina's a childhood friend of mine, Xenovia puts her friends first, Lucretia's a mage, Erica's too self-interested to be obsessed with God, and Asia's very nature is to be kind and helpful. Now, if you have any other ideas to convince me to distrust my friends, you can save it. Instead, you can answer a question for me." He looked Touko squarely in the eyes with a firm glare that could melt iron, "Namely, what are your intentions with the Grimoire that the Association in Italy gave me?"

"To avert the prophecy," she replied plainly.

Shirou folded his arms defiantly. "'Prophecies' tend to be nothing more than self-fulfilling tragedies made up by some deity connected to the Root for their own amusement. So what is this prophecy to begin with?"

Nodding, Touko narrated, "When a certain god regains its true form, the Starless Night will cover the heavens, and our world will be drawn into the underworld. Princess Alice made this prophecy. She ascended to the highest ranks of Heaven, and her prophecies have been said to never be wrong. The Gorgoneion is the Snake, the physical manifestation of the Gorgon's divine powers. It will supposedly transform an ancient, powerful goddess into a vengeful being."

' _Bullshit,_ ' Siegfried argued with a snarl.

' _I agree,_ ' Shirou added before looking back at Yuri. "That sounds fishy to me."

"Oh?" Touko hummed. "Under what pretense?"

Yuri slumped back, an eyebrow twitching. "Emiya… you told me to not think of you as one of the Kings… correct…?"

Shirou gulped in concern. "… Yes…? Why…? Wait, do you think I'd use it? The only reason I ever would is to right a wrong that had been done."

"No, it's because it seems you consider what's happening around you carefully enough. You are one of the few esteemed individuals that managed to become a Demon King! You must understand that each of your actions affects everything around you! I humbly ask you to keep in mind that making a small mistake or doing something that isn't a big deal to you might very well lead to the end of the world!"

Shirou nodded firmly. "Believe me. I am well aware of the possible visitors and enemies Medusa's Seal would bring Japan and me. It is also better in the hands of someone sensible and impartial than in the hands of a bunch of Magi who would do something stupid with it now that they lost their psycho of a King." He then turned to the side, facing a shadowed portion of the roof around a corner. "Wouldn't you agree little Goddess?"

The other two turned in surprised to the area, out of which a beautiful, trim, young-looking woman with long lilac hair tied in twintails wearing an elegant white dress stepped out, a smirk on her almost doll-like face that showed a faint hint of aggravation.

Touko nearly froze at the sight of girl.

"So, which of the twin goddesses are you?"

Sporting a playful smirk, she teased, "Why not figure it out on your own?"

Shirou looked the girl up and down thoughtfully. "Hm… judging by your overall personality, arrangement of your clothing, and the fact you were utilizing stealth, I would guess Stheno, eldest of the Gorgon sisters."

The girl smiled with a light clap. "Bra-vo, you humans aren't all dribbling morons it seems."

Shirou frowned unapprovingly. "Please do not come off so condescending to others, it makes you sound like a god. Like Zeus or Poseidon." Feeling a sudden reflex, he leaned to the side immediately as something whooshed by him. Blinking momentarily to catch up to what happened, he noticed the small cut on his cheek before turning around, seeing the wall behind him had been badly scorched.

Stheno, a cold scowl in her eyes, warned, "Never compare me to that filth."

"Then don't be so condescending towards others. You're a goddess after all, act like it."

"What is a goddess even doing here in the first place…?!" Touko questioned with concerned bewilderment.

"You're a smart woman, aren't you, Touko?" Shirou challenged. "Think about it. I have the key to Medusa's seal, the youngest of the Gorgon sisters. And Stheno here is the oldest."

"Then you intend to release Medusa?"

"Apparently. Though that brings up an important question, why does she care to?"

"Pardon?" the woman asked in visible confusion.

"I know someone who is… a major history buff, you could say. She once told me how Medusa was treated by her sisters."

Stheno folded her arms defiantly. "You know it's rude to talk about someone when they're right here."

"I know," he retorted. "I was just giving Touko here a bit of history. Namely how horribly you treated your youngest sister."

Stheno visibly recoiled at the accusation.

"I mean, why would you want to unseal someone you have no real love for? To torment her? Enslave her?"

Stheno's recoil turned into a scornful glare. "I advise you to stay your tongue, Campione. While I may not have the power to end your existence, I will induce as much suffering as I can unless you silence yourself."

"Maybe if you're honest and tell me why you want to unseal your sister I will stop."

Hissing, Stheno declared, "I will only say this: even goddesses can make mistakes. Decisions based on incomplete information. Now, perhaps you will help me clean up one of the messes left behind by those mistakes. Otherwise, I'll take the Gorgoneion from you by force."

Narrowing his eyes, Shirou argued, "Oh? And how do I know you won't wind up getting her assaulted by the same person?"

Stheno's temper seemed to finally seep through. "Because that worm is dead and can no longer hurt anyone!"

"Dead?"

"Yes. Poseidon is dead."

' _Okay… gotta admit I didn't expect that one,_ ' Siegfried gasped.

' _Agreed,_ ' Brunhilde added.

"Who and how?" Shirou questioned.

Stheno merely folded her arms with a huff. "And why do you think I'd bother telling you that? After all I made a deal not to disclose the killer's identity because they valued their life of independence and freedom. Now, do you intend to free my sister or not?"

"I do. If you hadn't shown such true, genuine emotion for her when I said I wouldn't have, I would've done it without you."

Stheno hissed in irritation. "If you're done screwing around we need to get moving."

"Right."

"W – Wait, what is going on!?" Yuri exclaimed in exasperation.

"I'm helping her free her sister."

"But the prophecy!"

"What about it?" Stheno argued. "There's so many tales connected to that accursed thing which one are you referring to?"

"The Starless Night," Shirou explained.

Stheno just stared at him. "… You mean Loki's drunken joke?"

Shirou turned to Yuri. "There you have it." He then looked aside and realized Touko was gone. "Wait… where'd Aozaki go?"

' _I think she left after you mentioned giving Stheno the key,_ ' Brunhilde remarked.

Shirou clicked his tongue angrily as he tried to figure out where the brunette had gone. ' _Shit… she's probably going to report to her superiors._ '

' _Oh most definitely,_ ' Siegfried remarked.

Turning to Stheno, Shirou urged, "Okay, we just got a fire lit under our asses."

"How come?" the petite girl asked curiously.

"That woman belongs to one of the organizations that oversees supernatural events in the Japanese region. She's likely going to tell her superiors what's going on, putting a lot of minor, but still annoying, roadblocks in our paths if we don't hurry."

Stheno narrowed her eyes in frustration.

"So let's get going in a hurry, fast."

Yuri frowned, conflicted. "You say that… but do we even know where to go?"

Shirou shook his head in denial. "No. We don't." Turning to Stheno, he added, "But I assume _you_ do."

"Of course I know where our home is. Medusa's 'temple' as you call it, though it's actually a prison, is on the very island she remained for so long after Athena gifted her with her Beast form. The Shapeless Isle."

"But… isn't that all the way in Greece?" Shirou asked in suspicion.

"Do you really think each of those myths happened in Greece alone?"

"Well… yeah. So, if it's not in Greece then where is it?"

"Off the coast of Japan."

Yuri and Shirou just stared at her silently.

Sighing, Shirou then looked at the girl in thought. "Right… I have just one more question."

"Which is?" she asked, mildly annoyed.

"You had plenty of time to go to Italy or wherever to find the Gorgoneion and use it to release Medusa. It wasn't until now that you decided to seek it out. Why?"

"Does that really matter?" she retorted.

Shirou could see she was slightly uncomfortable at the questioning, so he persisted. "Yes. From what you said, Poseidon was killed long ago, meaning any time you wanted would have been good to release her. But you're only now in such a hurry to do so, so I want to know what kind of threat has spurred you to this."

Stheno furrowed her brow in thought before sighing. "… Tell me young King, have you ever heard of the Khaos Brigade?"

"No, I can't say I have."

"Then consider yourself lucky they haven't focused on you yet."

"I'm assuming this Brigade has something to do with your haste?"

"That they are. And you killing that moron Doni likely hastened their plans."

"And what plans have you so concerned?"

"Athena," she responded bluntly. "They have her under their sway, and I have a pretty good idea what they plan to do."

"Mind filling me in?"

"Let's get going first, I'll tell you on the way."

* * *

Elsewhere, a girl with silver hair wearing a beanie and plane clothing hissed as she stood in front of a blonde-haired man with extravagant armor.

The man snickered in amusement. "Come now, no need to be so rude, Athena."

The girl scowled at him venomously. "There is plenty of reason to be, Perseus."

Perseus merely chuckled as he reached out to stroke the main of a white, winged horse next to him, though it lurched away. "Aw, you too, Pegasus?"

The horse narrowed its eyes and snorted fiercely.

"You know, you could at least show me your better self once in a while. I'm sure if you did Boss would be far more lenient with you."

"You won't get away with this, Perseus."

"Oh? It's been, what, four hundred years and it's been fine so far. Besides, Hades seems perfectly happy."

Athena merely scowled at the man.

Perseus blinked in thought and glanced to the side, nodding several times. "Right. I understand." He then glanced back at Athena with a smirk. "Well, looks like you messed up, Athena. Stheno got to the Gorgoneion first."

Athena's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "How?"

"Apparently she found some mortal who had it. To be honest, I'm glad she found it first. I like you better like this. You're more tolerable."

' _You'll soon be thinking otherwise, fool,_ ' she thought with a scowl.

* * *

Shirou and the rest were on a small ferry headed towards the island Stheno described, Irina frowning curiously at Yuri.

"So, what do you think their plan is?" Shirou asked the lilac-haired goddess.

"Simple," Stheno began. "They plan to force Athena turn my sister into a weapon."

Erica folded her arms before raising an eyebrow, confused. "Why? Sure, her Mystic Eyes are strong, but all they would need is her eyes in that case."

Stheno sighed in exasperation. "Simple-minded humans. It is because in her full Monster form her power is on par with that of the Heavenly Dragons."

"What?!" Yuri gasped in awe.

"Well that's certainly not good," Irina lamented.

Stheno nodded in agreement. "Indeed. I am sure I don't need to tell you all how powerful they are as Sacred Gears. Just imagine what one of that level of power can do not sealed and used as a weapon."

Shirou grit his teeth with anger. ' _Well this whole mess just got a lot more serious…_ '

Siegfried, the playful tone of voice she usually had fully absent, added, ' _Indeed. Ddraig and Albion are no joke. There was a reason Fafnir never angered them or tried to steal from them._ '

Irina seemed to finally have it with her curiosity. "So… why'd we bring the shrine maiden along?"

"She volunteered, that's why." He then glanced to the side and noticed Asia and Yuri talking together, smiling and laughing as they exchanged stories. "Guess Asia's already made a friend. That's good to know."

"Yep," Irina chirped with a smile as Lucretia looked around cautiously.

"Something wrong?" Shirou asked with mild confusion.

Lucretia replied, "As we near the island I'm sensing a massive amount of mana swirling through the area."

Stheno added, "And it isn't my sister's. Which is very bad."

"Why?" Xenovia questioned.

"It means someone managed to pierce through the Bounded Field around the island."

"Oh great…" Shirou muttered in frustration. ' _This isn't going to end well, is it?_ '

' _Probably not,_ ' Siegfried rebutted.

"Be ready for anything," Lucretia urged.

"Understood," Xenovia answered, gripping Destruction tightly.

"Agreed," Stheno added. "It's highly possible the Brigade is already here and lying in wait."

Shirou narrowed his eyes in thought. "They'd need someone skilled in magic to get through a Bounded Field of that power."

"From what Euryale and I managed to gather on them, their leader is the Ouroboros Dragon."

Lucretia's face almost went pale. "Y – You can't be serious…!"

"I am."

* * *

Soon, the group made their way through the forests of a small island, the woods covered in mist, twists and turns boggling the mind and branches in all directions.

Shirou huffed as he looked around. "The paths through the forests here sure are obtuse…"

Stheno nodded and added, "Euryale and I made it this way to keep out undesirables. That way if anyone managed to get beyond the Bounded Field, they had a further problem to deal with. Nothing discourages men more than a branch slashing threw their balls."

"… Ah," he muttered, his pace suddenly becoming stiff.

Eventually, they approached a large stone wall, leading into a long, winding hallway.

Pointing to it, Stheno explained, "It's not far, just through this maze."

Asia blinked in thought as she looked to the side before pointing. "Um… how about we go through these holes in the walls?"

Stheno and the others turned and saw that a series of holes had been blasted straight through the maze, causing the purple-haired cutie to gape. "… These walls are supposed to be unbreakable."

"Tell that to the person who broke them," Xenovia deadpanned.

Stheno merely huffed. "Just what kind of force of nature do they have that could do this…?"

* * *

After a short travel they neared the end, where they saw a huge temple in the distance.

"There it is," Stheno remarked as they approached, Lucretia suddenly putting a hand to stop the group.

"Wait, there's someone in front of it."

The group stopped when they saw a woman with long, bright red hair and plain clothes standing in front of the temple.

The woman stood with a frown, her arms folded under her ample bust, and exclaimed, "Stop right there!"

"What the…?" Shirou muttered in confusion.

"I won't let you bastards go any farther!" she continued.

Shirou blinked in confusion. "The hell…? Who are you? Whatever, I'm pretty sure I'm the only guy here and I am also pretty sure my parents were married. I think."

Xenovia narrowed her eyes and instantly summoned both of her swords in a flash of light.

Stheno frowned and formed blasts of energy in her hands. "I won't let a demon king stand in my way!"

Shirou nodded in agreement. "Ri – wait…" he trailed off before he and the others all shouted in unison, "WHAT!?"

Lucretia blinked in thought. "That… explains a lot."

The redhead growled in frustration and pointed at Stheno angrily. "Ah great! Look what you did brat! Why did you say that!? You went and ruined my peaceful life of being the Blue!"

Stheno twitched an eyebrow as Shirou, somewhat perplexed, raised an eyebrow. "The Blue…? Why does that sound familiar…?"

Lucretia smirked and explained, "Aoko Aozaki, Magic Blue. The one famed to have the Second True Magic, the ability to control time. But seems that's all a big sham."

Aoko scratched her head furiously. "Gah! My secret is out! Damn it, brat! If you didn't blurt that out, they'd still believe I wasn't one!"

"So, what now?" Xenovia asked, readying both of her swords.

"Now I'm gonna beat you down and stop you from unleashing an Evil God!"

"My little sister isn't evil you bitch!" Stheno spat venomously. "Damn demon king. I'll make you move!" She threw several powerful blasts of energy towards the redhead.

Aoko merely raised a hand, and the blasts were enveloped with golden energy, causing them to quickly wither away and vanish.

' _This isn't good,_ ' Siegfried growled.

' _You're telling me…_ ' Shirou grumbled, trying to plan a battle.

Siegfried sighed and argued, ' _No, you don't understand. That power she just used comes from Chronos, the God of Time._ '

' _Meaning what exactly…?_ '

' _That she has the Authority of a Primal God._ '

Shirou's blood ran cold at that realization.

Aoko raised her hands as energy began swirling around her. "Now, if you stand down, I'll just vaporize you quickly."

' _She seems insanely strong…_ '

Siegfried, interjected, ' _She is. Her Authority deals with the control of time itself. Any wound you deal her can be reversed to non-existence and any magic attack can be nullified by speeding up and wasting the mana in it._ _If you want to beat her, use my Authority._ '

' _And how exactly do I do that…?_ ' Shirou asked, his mind racing for solutions.

' _Seriously?_ '

' _I need some kind of a chant to activate it, or something. I don't even really know what your Authority_ is _._ '

Siegfried twitched an eyebrow at the response. ' _… Benny never told you about my brother Sigurd and I?_ '

Brunhilde stammered nervously. ' _Th – There's… been a lot going on…_ '

She sighed heavily. ' _Good grief… okay, I'll give you the short version. By utilizing the dragon blood that flowed through my veins, your body becomes as hard as dragon scales, making you immune to most forms of physical damage._ '

' _Her control over time would just undo it, or simply erode my armor._ '

' _I'm getting to that,_ ' she snapped lightly. ' _Dragons are ageless, existences outside of the normal confines of time itself. If you can get the Body of Steel activated high enough, her magic won't have any effect on you._ '

Shirou's eyes widened at the idea.

' _And if you can imbue the Aspect of Dragon into a traced weapon, they will also be hard for her to destroy as well. That or just use Balmung or Gram._ '

' _It'd be nice if I had either of them, but I'm kind of stuck on that one. So, how do I get that thing to activate?_ '

Lucretia, a niggling question poking her mind, decided to ask Aoko plainly. "How'd you know we would be coming?"

Aoko pointed angrily at the group. "Atheny told me about you creeps!"

The others remained silent in confusion. "… Eh?"

"Atheny, the cute li'l mage!"

Yuri twitched an eyebrow before groaning in disbelief. "Sh… She's a moron… The Blue is… complete… moron… The Seventh King… why are they all idiots!?"

Nodding to himself, Shirou looked around at the others. "Hey, everyone, I know this is asking a lot, but can you keep her attention for a bit?"

Erica, intrigued, asked, "Got a plan?"

"Yeah, but it needs time to charge."

Erica nodded before smirking. "Then we will keep her occupied." Raising a hand, she called out, "Cuore di Leone!" before her rapier appeared in her grasp and she charged.

* * *

Inside Shirou's mind, amongst the sea of swords, Siegfried looked at Brunhilde curiously. "He does know he has Balmung and part of Gram in here, doesn't he?"

Brunhilde merely shook her head in denial. "No, he's completely unaware."

Siegfried frowned conspicuously at her.

Brunhilde folded her arms under her bust with a huff. "Don't give me that look. Until recently I wasn't even sure if they were just figments that he can create like everything else here, or if they were actually attached to his soul."

Siegfried's suspicion grew only further. "… And you thought it best not to tell him Gram's blade is in here because…?"

Brunhilde's gaze fell to her feet sadly. "Because… how it got here is connected to things he's better off not knowing."

Siegfried's expression soured in response as she listened. "… Benny… what happened to him…?"

Brunhilde's fingers clenched around her thin arms. "It… isn't necessarily about what happened to him, but how he came into this world."

* * *

Shirou kept his mind focused, mana swirling around him and condensing onto his skin, flecks of light visible from the sheer amount of it. "I think… I've got it…" Taking a breath, he began the incantation. "Even if the body is crushed and scattered, the sword never dies! The broken blade shall be melted down in the furnace, forged once more to be reborn as a new sword! Flames cannot destroy me! Steel Body!" His body was suddenly enveloped in bright, lavender light, his body beginning to slowly sink into the ground as if immense weight pressed on him. "Now then…" he muttered to himself before pressing off with one foot, rushing with high speed.

"Whoa!" Aoko gasped as she saw him soaring towards her, responding by firing off a blast of magic energy.

Shirou grit his teeth apprehensively. ' _This had better work…_ '

As the attack collided with him, it dispersed around him, causing the grass and leaves nearby to whither and fade, but left him completely unaffected.

Aoko's eyes shot wide in disbelief. "Wh – What the…?!"

Shirou raced towards her and reared an arm back to hit her, however, she was suddenly encased in blue energy and jumped back at almost impossible speeds just as his fist would have connected. Twitching an eyebrow, he grumbled, ' _… Well I'm immune to her magic, but it doesn't stop her from dodging._ '

Siegfried interjected, ' _She didn't. Not completely._ '

Shirou just cocked an eyebrow, confused. ' _Huh?_ '

' _Look. Her shirt is torn and she used her Authority to reverse the damage to her body. Without that, you probably would've knocked her out instantly._ '

Shirou nodded to himself in reply. ' _Still… without something to get her with all I can do is defend._ ' Looking back at where her attack had bounced off of him, he noticed the withered plants and decayed dirt. ' _And the longer that happens the more damaged this place gets…_ '

' _Then use alchemy to force her into a situation that makes her unable to avoid you,_ ' Brunhilde urged.

Irina nodded to herself and unwound Mimic from her arm, balled it up, and threw it towards him. "Shirou!"

"H – Huh?" he stammered before seeing it coming to him.

He caught Mimic as it reached him. He took a deep breath and then chanted, "Oh silver arm, upon my oath, turn into the invincible blade! Ripping Silver Arm!" his arm quickly turning silver and enveloping the thread, which morphed into the shape of a long, dark red, double-edged sword with a second, smaller blade at the hilt, both blades glowing radiantly.

Xenovia widened her eyes in disbelief and looked at Irina in shock. "What are you doing?!"

"Helping him, duh," the brunette answered bluntly.

"Only you are supposed to wield Mimic!"

Irina frowned and rebuffed, "I'm with him first, Church second. You took the same vow after all. We are sworn to aid Shirou."

Xenovia frowned unsurely. "… R – Right…"

Aoko gaped as she looked at Issei's silver-encased arm. "The heck?! How'd you get Doni Dummy's Authority?!"

Shirou flattened his brow in disbelief. "I killed him, how else."

"… Campiones can die?"

Shirou nodded. "Anything that can bleed can die."

Aoko folded her arms in thought. "… Well if there's any Campione to die guess it's best it's him." Her eyes suddenly snapped open in realization. "Wait, that means you're a Campione too…"

"I am pretty sure my Authorities should have made it obvious. You're only now catching on…?"

"Um… yeah?"

Shirou's jaw dropped in utter disbelief, his eyebrows twitching furiously before a small trail of blood dripped from his nose.

Aoko frowned in confusion. "Um… you okay over there?"

"F – Fine… I simply had an aneurysm from listening to you."

Aoko just looked at him curiously.

"Now stand still so I can beat the stupid out of you."

"Nope!" she chirped back before kicking off the ground at him.

Gripping the sword, he lunged as well, stepping to the side at the last moment as she swung her fist, dodging.

Aoko, however, spun deftly on her heel, swinging her other leg in a wide arc at him.

Shirou did not have time to dodge so raised the broad side of the sword to block the strike, which he did, but his entire body trembled from the force of the impact. ' _Now!_ ' Almost immediately, the blade separated, opening up, where her leg had impacted, causing her to stumble and lose her balance, before the hole snapped shut.

Aoko stared in disbelief before watching her severed foot tumble to the ground. "… Huh… Well… I didn't see that coming." After a moment her severed foot healed itself and regenerated, after which she shrugged before smirking with joy. "Ooh, how exciting. Let's keep going!"

Shirou growled as he dodged another of her blasts. "Stop and listen to us! You're being deceived!"

Aoko grumbled and tossed more shots at him. "Atheny wouldn't lie to me!"

Stheno raised both of her hands and launched a massive mana beam. "Die so I can save my sister!"

Aoko dodged the shot and then looked at the girl in confusion. "… Eh? Sister?"

Shirou took the moment to his advantage and caused Mimic to morph, changing from the bright red sword into a long spike that shot out towards Aoko, splitting its head into four pieces, and shooting towards her, stabbing through each of Aoko's limbs and impaling her against the rock wall behind her.

Before anyone could respond, an object crashed into the ground nearby.

"What now…?" Asia muttered in fear, hiding behind Irina.

After a moment, Perseus emerged from the smoke atop Pegasus, Athena behind him.

Shirou stared at the man in silence for a moment. "… Who's this pedo?"

Siegfried snarled with rage as Brunhilde demanded coldly, ' _End him. Now._ '

"Atheny?!" Aoko exclaimed upon seeing Athena on the back of Pegasus, trying to wrench herself free. "Why are you here with that creepy looking guy!? Wait, don't tell me he's gonna rape you…!"

Stheno could barely hold back her snickering.

Perseus merely hissed before vanishing.

"The hell!?" Shirou snarled, looking around for the man, before hearing Stheno gasp, he turned and saw as Perseus ran his sword through Stheno's back.

Perseus smirked and tossed Stheno to the side. "There, that's one problem dealt with. Now to smash that annoying rock."

"STHENO!" Shirou howled before preparing to charge, stopping himself at the last minute. ' _Dammit! I've got Mimic impaling Aoko, I don't have anything to fight with…!_ '

Siegfried growled and shouted, ' _Bring out Balmung already you dumbass!_ '

' _What are you talking about? I don't have Balmung!_ '

' _Yes you do! Or did you think Dumbass' sword was his, you moron!?_ '

' _… Hah?!_ '

' _Summon it! Summon Balmung to you and do it fast!_ ' she shouted, growing increasingly frustrated.

' _What, wish upon a star?_ '

' _I don't care! I'm standing right fucking next to it so I know it's here along with a copy of it you Traced!_ '

Shirou clenched his fists and extended a hand out.

Perseus watched in curiousity, before his eyes widened as Balmung appeared in Shirou's grasp in a flash. "Th – That sword…"

Shirou stared at the blade in surprise, still shocked he even had it, before Siegfried demanded, ' _Now! Gut him like a fish!_ '

Responding instantly, Shirou slammed his foot into the ground and took off at the blonde.

Perseus winced, preparing to bring out his own weapon when he suddenly smirked before calling out, "Athena!" the girl appearing in front of him and raising a hand to stop the blade mid-swing.

Brunhilde growled angrily. ' _Dammit! Athena, move!_ '

Shirou then saw Perseus jabbing with his sword and realized what the man's plan was. Taking immediate action, he knocked Athena out of the way.

Athena stared at Shirou in disbelief. ' _H – He… saved me…?_ '

Perseus grinned maniacally as his sword thrust at Shirou, only for the blade to clang off as if hitting a wall. "Wh – What!?"

"My turn!" Shirou howled as he readied his own attack, slamming the flat side of Balmung into Perseus' head, sending him flying into a boulder.

Perseus howled in pain as he hit the rock, slumping to the ground.

"Good, you're still alive," Shirou noted coldly as he approached the downed man.

"Tch… this is getting irritating," Perseus huffed before looking over at Xenovia and the others, resulting in a smirk forming on his face.

' _What is he planning…?_ ' Shirou wondered as he approached him.

Brunhilde suddenly gasped with horror. ' _No… Shirou!_ _Tell Lucretia to teleport the others away now!_ '

Shirou turned to the busty witch without a moment's thought and shouted, "Lucretia! Get the girls out of here!"

Perseus huffed in annoyance. "Oh no you don't!" He then pointed at Xenovia. "You, the one with blue, keep them from leaving."

Xenovia stiffened as her eyes clouded and she went slack before turning to the others and pointing Durandal at them.

Irina stiffened in confused fear. "H – Huh? Xenovia… what's wrong…?"

Shirou howled angrily. "You keep finding new ways to piss me off you bastard! Now I'm going to skin you alive and throw you in the ocean before killing you!"

Perseus merely smirked as Shirou charged at him.

As the battle continued, Pegasus watched the battle in thought before trotting over to the Gorgoneion, lying on the ground, and picked it up with its teeth and walked into the large temple's doorway.

Shirou, meanwhile, swung his sword to the ground forcefully, a blast of blue energy shooting from it.

Perseus easily stepped to the side as the attack slammed into the ground. "You're rather new to this, aren't you, boy?"

"And you're weak," Shirou spat back.

Perseus just smirked confidently. "And yet you haven't beaten me yet."

"Yet."

' _Well?_ ' Brunhilde asked.

' _Well what? He's barely done anything yet, just dodge this bastard's moves!_ ' Siegfried snapped, annoyed.

Brunhilde chided her, ' _Sorry Sieg, I wasn't talking to you._ '

' _Eh?_ '

Shirou answered in his mind, ' _He's a coward, clearly. He tries to avoid direct combat unless he can use a distraction or a smokescreen. Anytime I try and close the distance he distracts me and then puts space between us. All I need to do is force him into a position where that isn't an option._ '

Siegfried was silent for several seconds. ' _… Damn you're good._ '

' _Then let's get to it,_ ' Brunhilde urged confidently.

Shirou took a slow breath for a moment before his eyes snapped open and he kicked off the ground from where he stood, almost in a blur.

Perseus winced in surprise. "Th – The hell…?!" He dove to the side, narrowly avoiding a kick from the red-haired teen that turned the boulder behind him into dust. "Where did all this speed come from!?"

Shirou slammed a foot down and spun, swinging Balmung with all his strength.

Perseus tried to jump back but could only bring his blade up in time to block the strike.

Shirou stuck his other foot into the ground, swung his off leg up into the air and slammed it against the side of Perseus' head, sending the man stumbling back.

"Damn you… where did all this come from!?"

Shirou merely stood, readying his sword.

* * *

 **And done! Thus ends the fourth chapter! I hope you all enjoyed it, be sure to let me know with a review if you did. If you were confused, unsure, or just have any questions on anything, such as the origins for certain characters, be sure to let me know with a review and I will do what I can to address your concerns in the next reviewer response. If you did not like it, review if you must, though might I suggest something you enjoy instead?**

 **Anyway, that concludes all this, and I will do my best to ensure you do not have to wait another year for the next chapter.**


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